Undertale: Forward, Back, Neutral, Reverse
by TairaCrow
Summary: A young girl named Ana found a way to access other dimensions with possibilities in time. She knows she can delve back in time to try to access the memories she lost, but is it more important that helping a friend? (After the events of all play throughs of the game)
1. Chapter 1: How to Find a Friend

**Memory Log (Only to keep notes. PS NOT A DIARY!):**

** It's been a whole year since Dad said the accident happened that caused me to have amnesia. It's weird, though I can't place it. The details of the accident or anyone remembering it. The village also said that since monsters roam our world now we have to stay in the gates of the town, meaning no more leaving to find machine components in other parts of the county. Technology and science seem to be the only thing my mind can latch onto. Whatever I forgot was important, but it seems that my scientific plans involved breaking a hole into time/space. If my books and correspondents were right, I have everything I need to do a full test run; hopefully without shutting the power down. Maybe if this works, I can explore other dimensions or times outside of this cage of a town they keep me in…**

Several months ago, a year even now, I found myself in a hospital bed with someone who said he was my Dad telling me I was in an accident. He said that monsters had hurt me and I had barely escaped. I never knew what he meant but I knew I wasn't meant to be here. I also knew that if he was my Dad, I would know somehow. It's why I consider them _family_ but not really. He had a son named Tanner and no wife to speak of. He lead the anti-monster village of Aruthop. Now that's where I live in a large garage where my family lets me conduct my experiments. Fun fact, no one in this village likes me so I guess this is where I say _Ouch my feelings_, and yet I don't care. I was more worried about this test of my experimental dimensional hole punch I made. If it worked, I could leave and see other worlds.

At four in the morning, no one should be awake to fight a machine made of discount parts and duct tape. That is my life, though the term life is used loosely. I don't believe that this is a bad life in particular. The machine in question was actually a machine that is trying to currently punch a hole in a dimension that I have never seen before. Problem is that that same machine is currently sparking while I try to figure out the problem with it. Something is definitely not working correctly, or, if it is, I need to learn to buy better books on engineering, physics and space/time.

I don't know what is possessing me to do this, but I know that I almost got it to work last time if it didn't shut down the power grid. This time is different. I can feel it. The lever to my left is down, signaling the balancer is at work to compensate for the whole overload. This is my last shot. The materials it takes to punch this hole is expensive and I would have to save a years' worth of wages again… My frustration must have peaked as I raised a fist and let it fly at the non-cooperative machine. With that punch, it finally stops sparking.

"Finally! I can leave this place and find a new home. No more broken world!" I cheer as I am readying to jump through the open hole in space and time. That thought is slowly dying with the vast darkness staring back at me. Some sort of ooze decides to start crawling through the oval hole into the nothing. I turn on my heels to find the shut off switch, yet a hand grabs my arm holding me back from flipping it.

"Not so fast," a flat voice said behind me. It did not sound happy at all. The grip was tight too, that is until the machine begins to spark again.

I did my best to protect us both, diving back into the person holding my arm, "Get back!" Whoever this is, they did not deserve to die. Neither of us do, but I was raised to put my guests first oddly enough. If that meant dying for them to live, well let's just say my parents are weird.

The machine lets out an ear-piercing ring then explodes along with part of my roof. I didn't remember much past the ringing in my ears. If I was correct, I'm dead… Or I fell in the void., or I'm dead. Most likely dead.

_The world around me feels surreal. Here I am in the same emptiness that the ooze crawled out of. For a hot second, I remember him. The ooze that crawls. When did it become a person? Wait, where is he? This is the void right? The darkness… The nothing. He should be here or did we trade places? I could feel my nerves were making me paranoid of everything and nothing around me. The ooze was there until a sharp pain drove me to truly open my eyes._

My mind is screaming out in pain with all the colorful words I've learned. Nothing seems wrong, but my mind still screaming. In trying to stand, I notice one of my legs isn't moving. Actually, that's the one screaming at me to curse further aloud once I could see why. My right leg is trapped under a large monitor and computer tower I built. Of course, I'm a squeamish person who had tears in my eyes from the pain it caused me. Hello Captain Wuss.

The same person clears their throat from somewhere in the room. With my gaze focusing on them, I see the black jacket, black pants and white turtle neck; but wait there's more. His features seem bony… No, they are bones. That's a fact. He's a skeleton… A monster… One of the ones Dad keeps ranting about from the house from his news report on the radio. I instinctively stare with awe and concern, "No way… A monster in Aruthop…" Suddenly, my curiosity beat out my pain, as if the injury was somehow non-existent, "You don't actually kill people and murder humans for fun right? Sorry, I have to get my facts straight. Otherwise, what kind of scientist would I be." I seem to chuckle nervously at the end, "Sorry, ranting. Ow!"

With a swift raise of his hand, the now broken computer setup merely floats off my leg and into the air. It moves without restriction across the room, only to set down beside some of the already destroyed computer parts. My eyes light up with amazement. Before I could speak, I thought I heard my brother, Tanner, calling for me in a panicked tone.

The new arrival turns from me as if to leave. I call out quietly, "Closet beside you. It's empty. Hide. I'll cover for you. You're safe here, I promise." He listens to me, oddly enough. He moves inside the metal closet I made for emergency protection. Too bad, I never use it.

"Ana!" his distant call gets closer to us. Pain seethes through my leg when my attempt to sit up is done sloppily. Shortly after the attempt, my body floats to the bed to sit. I stare at the locker in awe with a small smile building. That's when Tanner's piercing voice reaches my door. He rushes towards me once he sees my leg, "Ana! Oh crap, you're leg. I'll get the first aid… Or not, it probably blew up too." He finally looks to the mess my machine's failure created. He hops to his feet, bursting out the large garage at break neck speeds.

The door moves a bit, causing me to wave it back. In seconds, the same pounding footsteps came running back with the first aid kit. Tanner cleans the cuts out and bandages them. With a sigh, he looks to my face, "I'm… Look, I can't be out here long. Just don't walk on it…" His words seem to be the only thing he left me after he departs from my lab/bedroom.

Shaking my head, I look to the ground with a new sense of loss, "Sorry I'm just the freak of the family…" Remembering there is a visitor, I listen carefully. Once I hear nothing, I wave my hand towards the closet.

He slowly steps out of the closet, careful of what he wants to say, "You aren't. I can tell that is what he wants to say. I would say it as well. No one is a freak or abnormal. That is because-"

"There is no normal," we finish the statement together.

He stops until he sits beside me with a smile, "Call me Gaster. And if you will allow me, I can heal your leg." One skeletal hand moves to rest on the bandages with a small pinch of pain. Then his hand glows green and my leg starts to heal. The pain slowly fades until nothing was left. His smile to me just then meant more than before. So even monsters have hearts too.

In a rush of movement, he had me hugging him tightly. I couldn't tell if he was upset, but I was just glad to know someone actually meant to help me; not run away, hide, or hate me. He simply hugs me back until I release from the hug, "I'm so sorry! I just… No one is as nice and my father is always ranting about monsters. I'm just glad he's wrong and I'm glad I saved you from that place."

"Well you should rest. Allow me to fix the mess tonight here. I'll be here in the morning. I think maybe we can make something unique together that might be worth their attention," he says standing slowly.

I lay down on the bed and cover up. With a small smile, I rested my head on the pillow watching things levitate together and slowly repair. Somehow it was peaceful to watch because at some point I fell asleep. I only remember being happy that I feel like I finally made something akin to a connection in this world.

Waking up, I find myself struggling not to laugh. I could see him asleep in my computer chair. He looks so harmless. Pushing out of bed in a slowly building jump scare, my feet were silent. One quick toss, I let the pillow fly towards him in a rush.

I don't think I ever thought it possible, but the pillow bounces harmlessly off a green shield. When it falls to the floor, I walk over to touch the shield with a curious glance, "A force field… Magic. Interesting." I poke it one more time before a large skull head hovers to my right, like that of the legendary dragons. My mind blanks as if frozen in fear, "Blaster magic." Tears fall that I had no idea of their purpose, "I didn't mean to…"

His hand pulls me in suddenly to fall into his arms. The blast hits the shield, vanishing as soon as it appears. I feel his eyes on me like that of a snake to strike. He puts me at arms-length to watch me. After a few seconds, he shakes his head and sighs, "Are you okay? I didn't mean to- It's been a long time since I've been around others."

I could only nod to him with fear still ebbing into my being. Skeletons are powerful monsters, I thought. My head shakes vigorously side to side, "This is my fault. I was trying to be clever. I didn't mean it."

He stops to laugh, and, for some reason, I laugh too. We shared that laugh for a moment. I try with some effort to shake away from what I felt before, "I should go get us some food. I have some left over money and I have to get my parts from the post office. If the town wasn't so anti-monster, I'd invite you."

"When you come back, we should talk about this machine. You have all the barebones right," he seems to catch himself making a pun and chuckles. Clearing his throat, he focuses again, "Add some fuel, we might be able to remake some parts into a better version of itself. Instead of space, we can try for both space and time without blowing the machine up."

Nodding in giddy glee, I pull my backpack off a coat hook by the door with my wallet still inside. Moving outside, I run down the hill with impatience. I catch myself missing the usually inevitable trip. The following few seconds are as follows instead;

1… The flowing air rushes past me.

2… I feel sensation of weightlessness.

3… Grass comes up to meet me gently.

The door is shutting slowly when I figure it out. He kept me from falling. Maybe I didn't screw things up after all. My parents' small cottage home sits at the bottom of the hill. I walk around the house and ignore the jibes from my father inside. Funnily enough, I could not care less for what he says right now. Instead, I move towards town with a metaphorical skip in my step. It is enlightening to find a person to relate to. A scientist even.

The town seems emptier than before. Fewer stalls, gray clouds, and fewer people. It is emptier. Some houses list being sold or selling as others say pending sales. No one leaves this town, at least Dad said that. Yet here they are leaving. I wonder why they break the rules to leave.

When I pick up some groceries for my backpack to hold, the radio nearby turns up;

'It is now over… The fight in the center of the major city has ended. The human ambassador said that the monster who attacked her was sick. He is now long gone. He appeared to be a smaller skeleton, a teenager maybe. The ambassador is taking the loss heavily as she says that his name was Sans and he was her friend. Despite this, she will still be visiting the anti-monster settlements in the further reaches of the world. The tour to end the anti-sentiment will be stopping last in Aruthop in three years. Let's all keep our ears and hearts out there for the ambassador. Only 12 and she is trying to end prejudice to the people she protects.'

I held my money out to the vendor with a stunned look. I turn to walk home with groceries in hand until a hand catches my arm, "Ana, wait up. I got your packages. I was about to deliver them, but I saw you here." Eli, an associate of mine for the shaggy haired brunette he was, always had his blue postal uniform on. He hefts three small packages to me, letting me get a hold on them, "So how have you been lately? No mystery injuries right?"

I forget he knows about those. I let out a small shush, "Quiet. No one knows. Come with me. I need your help and you can't tell anyone." I pull Eli aside to an alley where no one was around to hear. I set the packages down to give myself a break, "You know how monsters came from the underground right?"

"Duh, it's all over the radio. How have you not heard the recent reports ye… You broke the radio I gave you as a present," he says watching my reaction carefully.

Looking down, I shake my head, "Not important. You won't tell anyone anything, right? Secrets are ours?" When he nods, I speak up slowly, "I need you to deliver my groceries to my house for a bit. Not the house my parents live in, my garage. I also need twice the normal groceries. I may have gotten an unintended guest."

"Guest? What guest? No one has entered the village," Eli watches me cautiously now.

Sighing, I speak quietly, "I opened a portal into another dimension I think. Instead of leaving like I intended, something came out of it. A monster to be exact, a skeleton. He's very kind and he's a scientist too. I think he can help me fix the machine to modify both space and time… But I'll need things-"

Eli steps away from me to look either way. That's when he grabs my arms tightly, "You need to tell your Dad. The monster that almost killed its own ambassador was a skeleton. They say his brother is still at large… I'll go with you to tell your Dad if-"

"No!" my emotions finally fall out of my control suddenly, "He is a good monster. I'll… I'll ask him about those monsters. Maybe he doesn't even know them, but please, Eli. Please! Let me take care of this. I can do it. Just let me figure it out. I'm hoping maybe he can figure out why I keep getting… Getting injured." Suddenly the world spins, I feel like the world is dropping me slowly to the ground.

Eli catches me with a wary gaze, "Ana, what happened? You okay?"

Pushing off of his chest, I stand on my own, "I'm fine. Just don't tell anyone yet. I'll be okay. Please just bring me groceries in a few days. This could be the break in my research I need."

Eli only nods which gives me the cue to pick my packages up and begin the walk home. The walk feels longer than I thought it was. I see the garage at the top of this hill behind my parents' house, yet I can't move my legs.

_'…His name was Sans…'_

_ '…his brother is still at large…'_

What can I say? Will he leave? How can I be so selfish? I stare at the ground confused. I… My mind swirls until I make up the task at hand. Moving up the hill, I open the door, "I'm home. Brought food and some parts."

When I open the door, I see a floating hand holding a tool box as he works on fixing the computer tower behind the monitors I set up. He turns with a smile and black scuffs on his skull, "Good to see you home. I was finishing the work I tried to finish last night but I fell asleep…" He slows down and looks at me, his smile turning upside down, "Whats wrong?" He sets the tools down, moving in front of me.

I hesitate, allowing me time to set the backpack and packages down. I turn my head to the side, "Did you know anyone named Sans… And his brother? They were on the radio and in some gossip today. I thought it better to ask…"

His expression gives me the goosebumps for a second until it becomes somber, "They are my sons, Sans and Papyrus. What did you hear? This I need to know."

"I… I don't know how to say it. Gaster… Sans died fighting the ambassador. They said he was sick or something. And Papyrus is supposedly at large," I say these things knowing he might leave. What else am I to do? I can't lie to him. It isn't fair to lie to him for my own gain, "I don't know where he is, but this ambassador of monsters will be traveling to other villages where we might be able to catch up with her and talk to her. Maybe she can explain why he died… Or something…"

Gaster fills with conflicted emotions that do not seem to settle. I feel for him, I really do. I take his hand with a small smile, "I think I know how to fix this, though I need an expert scientist to help. We can save Sans and stop Papyrus from having to run, but I need your help with the machine. I punched a hole in space, now we can punch a hole in both time and space."

His expression shifts to something akin to a sad smile and fallen spirit, "If you believe we can do this, then let us do so. We finish the machine, then we can go back… Back to the beginning. Maybe I… I could see them grow up myself." He was grieving, but also hopeful. I pull a handkerchief from my pocket and offer it to him. He flushes a moment to see me point at his skull. He takes the cloth and wipes the black scuffs away. It was good to see him flushed or just somewhat positive as he speaks casually, "What if I said I have a whole lab full of various parts and the machine mostly made? It is perfect for the experiment. We just have to leave here and get there instead. I'm not sure how long it will take to get there but… We wouldn't have to hide if we left these gates either."

I keep thinking as he speaks. His words make sense, and I feel like he is right. I just nod with a smile, "Then we should pack the necessary supplies. I have an idea." I move quickly to find my suitcase that I got to use as a wardrobe holder. I set it on the bed and put a blanket over my clothes, half on it to use the other half to cover the parts I needed. I open the packages and put the smaller parts on the blanket. After placing the blanket over it, I shut the suitcase and zip it, "That…" I struggle to find the word, "Blaster. Can it levitate things and people? If it can levitate this then I know how to get us out."

Gaster only nods to me before he puts a hand on my arm, "Are you sure? If we leave, then you probably can't come back… Not to the right moment anyhow. We're stuck together wherever we go because time can't easily be traversed back."

I nod with a smile, "It won't bother me. This gilded cage is suffocating me. I'll be fine. Trust me. Besides, you have to teach me all I need to know along the way. I have a goal to help someone which means that it's worth doing. On the plus side, you'll show me the world as we go right? Maybe I can meet your sons."

He just chuckled and nodded, "Yes… If I'm correct, I can introduce you to my other son, Papyrus. I know him well. He would have run home to the place we're heading. It's a good thing to hope for. First, what is your plan for…" He looks past me, toward the door.

I follow his gaze with a shiver, spotting Tanner in shock. Raising my voice, I watch him warily stepping in front of Gaster, "Tanner… How much did you hear?"

"Everything. You… leaving… With this monster? They took away a child from this village once, you can't be telling me that you're leaving too. That's unthinkable," Tanner seems to be boiling or rather tips over, "We found you and nursed you back to health a year ago and this is how you repay… us…" He slows, having realized the words that came out. He pulls a gun out with surprising dexterity, "You won't convince her to go anywhere. Move out of the way Ana. He's just going to turn around and kill you. Skeletons are all the same."

My voice seems to lose the strength to bring forth any sort of response. Gaster takes my place in speaking instead, "I believe she convinced herself to leave to finish her experiment. I only agreed to go with her. She is quite capable of leaving on her own. With or without your permission." He sounds stern and yet somehow only a small bit scary.

I haven't been afraid of Gaster up to this point, and I'm still not. This is just a side of him I didn't think he had. I did notice Tanner turn his head to call the man who call himself my father, so I drew his attention before he could, "Tanner, wait! I'm sorry. But my work, this machine… It can be used to save someone. I have to try. You know that. It isn't like you were my real brother anyhow…"

Losing my voice again, I saw Eli behind him shaking his head. Eli turns his head, "Sir, here's the monster… And the one hiding it."

From behind them both, the burly brown-bearded man that lied to me for a year moves into the door way, "Ana, you need to come out here. We will deal with this thing."

This isn't good. He won't move so easily. Searching Gaster's face for some sign of help, he held a glare that could pierce through him. He takes my hand and smiles, "Deal with what? There is nothing you can do to stop either of us from leaving." He squeezes my hand tightly, "Trust me, Ana."

Before I hear the fake family I knew try to stop us, I could feel the stale air change. The wind smells of the yellow flowers I remember loving so much. I knew they grew far away from the town, but that means we traveled this far. I look around with a smile, "These flowers. I've always loved them… Gaster, how did you-"

I turn to ask him, but he is lying unconscious in the flowers. I kneel beside him and shake him a bit, "Gaster! Wake up! Please!" I didn't know why he passed out or how we got here. After shaking him some more, he still does not move. I know I'm not too weak to carry him, but where do we go from here. All there is in the distance is a mountain. The shake of my head is all I could do. I sit beside him, trying to form a plan with the hope he wakes up soon.

I can't wake him, but maybe I can carry him. It won't be easy, though I believe in myself. Standing up, the grass crunches underfoot with the strain of my black leather dress boots. I notice my white lab coat now had with accents of dirt and grass stains. My pants have the same stains, too, along with my white turtleneck. Great, I thought, now I ruined my only lab coat…

Picking him up with one arm over my shoulder, I start to walk slowly towards a nearby mountain. The tree line can protect us from sight while he regains his strength. Trucking along at this snail's pace is causing me to feel more exhausted by the effort. He is a lot heavier than I gave him credit for too. It takes well over an hour I think, but I make it to the tree line safely. I set Gaster down against the backside of a tree while I sit beside him, huffing. He still sleeps like a baby despite being dragged here with an arm over my shoulder. I am constantly aware and afraid that something might come at us. There I sat, this terrified feeling that someone might kill the only person I could trust. Of course, now is when the sun sets to put me on edge further.

Something touches my shoulder, which makes me jump sky high away from it in a dodge attempt, "Get away!" I roll onto my face in a mud pile, further dirtying my already ruined clothes. Getting out of the mud, I look around for the one who touched me previously, "Whose there?!"

Gaster moves slowly with only a half-smile, "It's okay, Ana. It's just me. I teleported us to the field. I assume you brought us here to be out of sight?"

"Yeah… The word teleport makes more sense. This is no field I know. I just got us out of sight is all," I sigh once more and move to sit by him again, "I need to rest. So, explain something to me. Why did you pass out?"

Gaster seems to be putting some thought into this until he puts a hand in the air, "Think of this space here being a container. It has a gauge full of a substance monsters call magic. As I use things like levitation or teleportation, the gauge begins to go empty. I haven't truly rested since using most of my magic. Thus, I passed out. Our magic is a lot like your physical stamina. When it runs out, you need rest."

Thinking it over, it made sense. He must have been burning through this magic reserve for the past day or so. I lean my head on his arm and rest there cautiously, "I see… We should rest then. I'm burned out cause you're heavy. For being all bones, you really weigh a skele-ton." I chuckle a bit at my own pun.

He just stays silent until he sighs disappointedly, "I've heard so many of those puns. Sans used to tell them." He chuckles quietly to himself, "It is refreshing to hear them for some reason. For now, I agree. Nothing seems to be out here. I need more rest to properly guide us to our destination." Gaster's arm moves around my shoulder to hold onto me, "This way I know you're safe here beside me… Get some sleep. We have a long walk to the underground tomorrow." He never meets my gaze after my pun, but I smile nonetheless.

With his arm around me, I think I feel safer here than before despite not liking this idea. I close my eyes, listening to an echo of some heartbeat. I didn't know whose it was, but I know I could sleep to it. The world drifts away slowly. Dun dun… dun dun… dun dun…

_ I see the scene as if I'm there. There was a young skeleton standing across from a darkened figure. The skeleton lurches forward to attack, yet he misses. The figure dodge out of the way and slash a knife I never knew they had. The skeleton falls to his knees, slowly the skull turning to dust. I run towards them with a hand outstretched, "No! Stop it! Please!"_

_ The figure turns to me holding the knife, "Stop what? The genocide never ends. It only finds more inventive ways to continue. Don't you think?"_

_ I back up, shaking my head, "You're the monster! Not them! You are! Look at all the… the…" I see it now that I pay attention. This void is covered in blood and dust. Something cries out that draws my attention to the wall behind me. I turn my head long enough to see it pull me into the nothingness._

_ "Don't make me stay here. I don't wanna be in the dark. They'll kill everyone. Humans, monsters… No one is safe. Let me go. Let me leave," I push hard against my captor until the voice startles me._

_ An older voice that seems too cocky for their own good, "If you think you can leave the dark, I believe you can. Do it! Walk out of the darkness and prove that you can do this. Otherwise, the memories of the lost are just that… Lost… We can't just let them be lost." The figure seems to be shrouded like the other one is, but I distinctly saw a scarf flowing behind him. _

_ I look forward, walking through the void that tries to hold me back. Pushing against the wall I was pulled through as it fights back._

_ I call out, "He's right… No one deserves to die. If they do, we have to make their memories count. Now let me through, you figment of my imagination!" I burst through the wall and could see the earth closing distance with me until I slam into it. The world goes fuzzy just after that._


	2. If We All Go together

Snapping awake, I feel lighter. I dig in my pockets and sigh heavily at the realization that my journal was left when we fled. I stare out into the small patch of woods on the side of the mountain with a form of hidden grove. The weight I lean on seems to shift, signaling me that Gaster was awake. I remember before now; he wrapped an arm around me and then… I gently attempt to remove myself from his arm. At least that's the idea until his arm doesn't budge at all.

Resuming my position leaning on his shoulder, I just close my eyes slowly to rest once more. He was surprisingly comfortable. Sleeps takes me slowly as if it has been forever since I got restful sleep. I guess this is what a real friend is like… Making you feel relaxed and calm. It is truly a gift.

A short time later, I am thinking to myself that the air around me seems to be moving past me. I slowly opened my eyes to see the field of golden flowers passing me by with his arms holding my legs. I'm on his back being carried. Taking in the scene, I just watch the flowers pass us by. I speak without thinking, "I remember loving these flowers all my life…"

"Well if you remember them, then you are getting better. Maybe with time we can get back your memories. Don't worry, I'll still help you-" Gaster said smiling.

_His face is replaced by fur and a younger voice, "Don't worry. Mom and Dad will take care of you. That fall banged you up a bit, but you'll be okay."_

I snap out of the memory with a cautious glance around, "What just… I don't know what I'm remembering, but it doesn't feel like me… First my dreams and now…"

"Dreams? What dreams? Only if you wish to talk about them," Gaster says with a shred of caution.

I just sigh and look at the flowers, "I always see a skeleton fall to a kid in a striped sweatshirt and glowing red eyes. I just try to stop it and all they tell is that genocide never ends. Darkness swallows me and someone with this flowing scarf tells me to use the strength I have. I get out of the darkness but end up crashing into the dirt from way high up… I don't know what it means, but it's been all I dream of most of the time."

He seems to think on it until he nods, "It's just a thought, but maybe that is a memory of sorts. A memory hidden within a bad dream. So maybe that person is the key to it. For now, I think you should walk." With a small effort, he let me onto my feet. I begin to walk with him as he smiles, "You will remember. Give it time. We're almost there by the way. That large mountain is at the edge of this field."

My stomach growls, making me blush, "And maybe some food too… I'm a bit hungry and I've had no food for two days I think."

A laugh rings through the air when he stops walking, "Well I think I can do that. My cooking isn't great, but I think I know where I can get you some food. Let's go." He walks again with a smile.

This walk feels like hours to me or maybe even half the day. The morning sun is becoming the midday heat as it went. Time moves slower once I see the pathway up to the mountain. He leads the way like he is walking a path home. Once we got to the top, I see the hole into almost nothing except for a small patch of yellow flowers.

"Hold onto my hand and trust me," Gaster says without even thinking of such a request. Taking my hand, I see a glow of dark blue surround us. The air feels weightless when we float slowly down. This feeling is similar from when I almost fell. While we float down, I see the flowers below with some familiarity. Once we stand on the patch of flowers, my eyes see the young goat monster walking a child towards the exit.

The noise that I hear was the crying of the girl. Following her slowly along with her new friend, I saw her move through traps. With a moment, I see her with a larger monster just like the small goat child. A name comes to mind; _Toriel_,_ mom_.

I follow them through this house and out into a snow covered path. Shortly into this memory, I see something that bothers me. I see Gaster standing by a large diner with a sign saying _Grillby's_. He was leaning on the building standing by a man with a flaming head.

A slap brings me back to reality, making the monsters fade away. The town looked more beat down, and the residents I saw before. Gaster stands right in front of me with a some form of fear etched into his face, "Ana!..."

When I stop looking around as if in a mist, I raise a hand to my cheek, "Ow… Gaster, where did that kid go? And the large goat monster. Who was that goat kid with her?"

"Who are you talking about? Once we landed, I saw you start walking away with this blank expression. I've never seen a human's eyes glow red before like your did… What else did you see?" he says with hands on my shoulders to keep my attention. He is scaring me right now, but I don't know why.

Hesitation is stopping me from answering right away. I look at him with a bewildered expression, "The town full of monsters and you were with someone with a flame head. I'm very lost. The thing is that you didn't have the crack in your skull that you do now. Why are you so afraid?"

He moves me with him, one arm around my shoulder. The movement actually makes me worried that he seems to know something. I noticed he moved me towards the only house that seems maintained in any amount of calling it repaired. With a swift movement, he puts his coat around my shoulders, "Here. Keep warm." He moves me inside the house to sit on the dusty couch, "Sit here. I need to check something, but I think I know something to help you. Let me get my son from the room upstairs. I know he ran here." He went upstairs, leaving me to just be lost and confused.

I hear several mumbles exchanged from upstairs which confirms his son is here. Or at least someone is here. I look at the room and realize that someone has been either cleaning it or maintaining the house. I stand up to look at a photo of two skeletons together. One in the blue sweatshirt I recognize from my vision of that figure killing them. The other one… He looks like the figure that encouraged me. I knew these people, these monsters. How did I know them? Who were they to me, or rather how did I know the older version of the taller one?

This all was beginning to overwhelm me. I hold the photo in my hands with a longing look at it. Something eats at my brain until I blurt out, "Papyrus. I just know it…"

Gaster set a hand on my shoulder to catch my attention. I turn around to see the one from the photo with the orange scarf except he was a bit injured from the scuffs and scratches on his arms. I spin around in a jump to see him with the one I knew. My voice catches in my chest until I blurt out, "You're the other one… Are you okay?"

"T… thank you for bringing my Dad home," he speaks without any real eye contact with me. Instead he sits on the couch with a bit of weakness.

I look at Gaster, "Can you heal him? I'll go check the diner for food or some nearby homes."

Gaster nods, "I can heal him, but we should move out of this area together. We don't know if we'll be alone down here and my lab is hidden. Stay in the town."

A person can learn to be cautious whenever they hear someone say that the area isn't safe. What is here that he thought might hurt me? Or us? With a look outside, I can't see anything. Taking a step outside, I nod, "I'll just get a look around. I think I should get a look around."

Before he can say anything else, I'm curiously walking towards the building designated as the library. Most of the books are half destroyed or even torn up. Stepping inside, the empty room is dark until I find the switch for the lights. The lights flip on after a few false starts and I see something that caught my eye. It is a red book sitting on a table with scribbled hand writing in it. The book isn't titled, and yet I wanna know more. Opening the book with curiosity guiding me, I see why I was curious.

The book reads:

**Determination Logs via Sans**

**Log 1-2: (Too Ripped up to read)**

** Log 3: The kid is showing some strange symptoms. She doesn't remember our fight before that we both clearly admitted we knew about. Even then, she admits to nothing. It's like she's changing. I know she remembered the mass genocide before this point. I need to investigate this further.**

** Log 4-7: (Torn and water damaged)**

** Log 8: Final log… She isn't Frisk. Frisk has been gone a long time now. With the records of the underground and my investigation, I know she is the first human Chara. If this is true, she has to be killed before the surface is next. I'm sorry kid… We were good friends. Just know I'm doing this for you… Like you can ever read this. Now I'm crazy. Don't tell Papyrus that I went insane. If Pap knew, he'd think that me seeing dead kids is crazy and blame himself. I remember all the dust and death. I just can't bear it. I'll stop you. I will. Or die trying. Just promise me that if I fail, someone tries to stop her or fix her. Dead kid or not, maybe someone can reach her. I can try to reach her, but hopefully someone else can.**

** P.S. Dad I'm sorry I'm not around to finish the machine to bring you back. Maybe I'll see you in the next life if there is one. **

The logs end there with a loss of connection to the world around me. I stare at the book, "She killed them all and then tried to continue that work. Whoever she is, she chose a bad path." I pick up the book and debate what to do with it. I move out the door to walk back to the house we were at before. It feels like this place is familiar. Oh well, I should find… Gaster and Papyrus… No, we should find Sans or the kid in the past. If we went back, maybe he can help us fix this. Or maybe we can bring him back. Time isn't fickle. It's only a guess though.

If we alter something, maybe… Running as fast as I can, I move to the house and rush in, "Gaster, I figured something out."

He jumps a bit, turning himself around to let out a sigh of relief, "Ana… Don't just rush in… Now, figured what out?"

"Time… I think I understand. We may not be able to stop his death but maybe we can drag him into the future, preferably before he gets affected by the genocide. I found this journal and it has his logs."

Gaster looks me over until he sees the red book, "Ripping him out of time, is that wise? Also, how did you figure out what he was thinking? I learned from Papyrus about Sans, so what did you find?"

I hesitate for a moment, then I pull out the book and hold it out to him, "This book. It says he knew that this Ambassador wasn't who she says she was. The idea that something changed in her that no one knew about but him still baffles me. This means he knew about the possible genocides or something along those lines. If we pull him from before, then maybe he'll be okay… But I need to jump more than once. He talks about something taking over her. If that's true… I need to come back to this time to help her. She doesn't have to be this monster. I can help her."

Papyrus moves from the kitchen to look at eye level with me. He freezes, staring at me, "You're…" Blue bones rose around me when his expression tenses.

Gaster moves in front of him, "Ana, don't move for now. Papyrus calm down. She isn't who you think she is. She's a friend. I know who she looks like, but Ana is helping us."

Papyrus stands in confusion until I speak up to grab his attention, "Someone just like you told me that they believed I could break free of the darkness otherwise the memories of the lost are just lost. Sans is gone here, but that might not be the same back then. I wanna help her just like how I brought Gaster out of the void. Accident, sure, but I want to help. Please let me help. Believe in me that I can help you."

Papyrus seems to calm down, making the bones vanish from around me. I heave a sigh of relief, finally remembering to breathe. Papyrus shakes his head, "I'm sorry. I think I should rest…" He moves towards the stairs until I call out to him.

"Papyrus… I'm really sorry. I didn't know any of this was going on, but I will do anything I can to fix this. She's still in there and I know it. Sans can be saved too," I say to him with a smile, "I promise you that I will do anything I can."

Papyrus seems to smile a bit before moving upstairs, "Thank you."

Gaster walks over to me and sets his hand on my neck. The same green glow emanates from his hand and his eyes change color. Shortly after, I notice that there was a small speck of blood on his hand. Once I smile to him, he just sighs, "You need to be careful. Whether you know or not, words only go so far. I want to show you something before you try something crazy like that again."

He grips my hand, pulling me along with him as he walks out the front door. He moves around the house and into the garage. After shutting the door, he leaves me to stand mere steps away from him, "I want you to watch something and remember I'm doing this to help you."

After a moment, the room seems to fill with tension as I see him across from me. I watch him until I see a white heart upside down in front of him. Moving my gaze quickly, I see a red heart in front of me, "What the… What is this thing? What's going on?"

"Your soul of determination… Mine is the soul of a monster. It caught me off guard when I heard you mention blaster magic. A long time ago, a human child fell into this underground… Before you doubt me, look out the window and tell me what you see," he goes on with his explanation that I just find hard to accept.

The part that truly bothers me is that part of me believes he could be telling the truth. I look outside in curiosity until I see something. Shadows of monsters running away or to something. I somehow know they're full of panic as some turn to dust as their strange soul's shatter. They were being killed. Reeling backwards, I shake my head, "No… Not again. These are just visions. They aren't real." I put my hands over my eyes to stop the visions, "They aren't real."

"You've seen these things before? Where? When?" Gaster is trying to pry but I am trying to shut him out in vain.

"No. I don't wanna talk about this, just leave it be," I leave the garage quickly. With a quick look around, I decide to head East towards the sounds of a waterfall. I believe I hear someone calling out, but I ignore it to continue on. After a few dozen long-running strides, I finally find the sound. There a gap lay that had this duck on the other side. Timidly, I speak up, "Hi…"

It watches me for a moment. The duck fluffed up and flew over to my side of the watery gap. He lands in front of me, "Took you long enough. I've been waiting for a long time for you. Come on, I'll give you a ride to the Waterfalls where that friend of yours wants me to take you." The duck flew behind me and grabbed my shirt collar.

He lifts me up with difficulty, but he flies across the gap. Once I'm on the ground, he flies in front of me, "She told me to take you to her in Tem Village. Even older, you still look the same Frisk." He waddles ahead of me with a smile tinged with sadness, "I don't know why your friend stayed here alone, but I guess there was a reason."

Following the duck with a sense of curiosity now, I say low, "Friend? What friend? And why would my friend leave me a year ago…."

It feels like ages while the duck waddles along with me following him. I can't explain it, but I feel the need to keep following him. He knows me and called me Frisk. Why? Speaking up slowl, I try to act coy, "You called me Frisk? And said I was older… Who told you to bring me to them? Whats their name?"

A cocky voice, similar to my own, laugsh up ahead in the entrance way up to the village, "Forgot about me huh? Well I knew you'd remember eventually so we could finish the job they sent us back here to fix. Only you lost your memories when you took tha fall for me."

The voice belongs to a person who looks just like me but wears much different clothing and hair color. They had slightly reddish-brown hair with the same medium cut length. They wear knee-length jean shorts, a green sweater with an embroidered red heart on it and beat up black sneakers. Her eyes held a red glow that I remember. I knew her… Know her. I walk past the duck and look at her thoroughly, "You… You… I know you, but how? Why don't I know anything?"

"Frisk, it's okay. I saw the fall, I understand. I'm Chara. We're best friends and trained together in the future with Papyrus to come back and fix what we screwed up. You might remember I was a ghost… Come on, Frisky, I need you here," Chara puts her hands on my shoulders and shakes me. She stops and just hugs me, "I need my friend back. It's been lonely trying to figure this out alone…"

_"We can't do this alone. We're friends, right? So let's save everyone together. And maybe if you can figure out how to punch a hole into space, we can save G, too. Let's do this," a younger, more teenage version of Chara showed beside me with a fist bump ready, "Determination squad!"_

I hold a fist bump out, "Determination Squad…" Tears build up, but I don't know why.  
Chara just smiles and fist bumps me, "Determination, yeah!" She hugs me tightly, "You do remember."

"I…" I want to say yes, but the flood of memories returns. We helped get her a vessel, trained with a much older Papyrus, and even came here. But we overcalculated the height… My memory loss was because I saved Chara from taking the fall damage. I just hug her back, crying tears of joy for having one person I know for sure, "I'm so glad you're okay, Chara. I woke up and didn't know anything. What about the rest? I just can't… The memories are just stuck…"

She smiles as she puts me at arms length, "No, we promised that I would hold onto the mmemories of the genocide and bad events, but that didn't work. We still share those memories."

I nod slowly, "Those aren't visions… They're memories. But wait! What about the device to get home? I had it when I fell…"

"Well I guess we're stuck here together then aren't we?" she cracks a grin while I just sigh. With a second thought, she laughs, "Kidding. It's right here in my pocket."

She pulls out the small, metal box that I designed with Alphys to send us back here. With a sigh, I click the top button as a a large reset box shows, "That's right. We're 24 now. That means we only went back 14 years… We needed to go back-"

"You should have gone back 16 to prepare or maybe even 18," Gaster says as we fnally notice him standing with a flailing duck in his hands, "I take it that it really is you isn't it Chara?"

Laughing, she just shrugs, "Don't know, Doc? You still got a bone to pick with my so- Ow!"

The duck is tossed at her, knocking her on her butt with a duck unconscious on her chest. Gaster shakes his head, "So then my hypothesis was right. You didn't just show up in this world. You both came back to fix things. Of course, you figured out how to rig your own reset into a time machine. But you being Frisk… It's a difficult concept to settle with considering what just happened."

I tap a button on the box as it vanishes into the box and I pocket it. I help Chara up, who fumes, of course, "Hey Bonehead!.." She calms down once I look at her sternly, "Alright… I get it. Our younger selves screwed up because we got lost in the game of death. We had no idea the consequences we would reap from that. I didn't think that it was even possible to get back here until Frisk studied all your notes and figured it out… What I'm tryin' to say is that we didn't mean for all this. We had no control or real understanding. Not until later. Papyrus found us…"

This was a familiar memory. We were hiding out in the ruins while humans and monsters lived in fear of us and our weapons. He found us and helped us out. He said he always had hope for us both despite the misnomers. I just smile, "He taught us what it meant to want to change. I learned to want to help others at all costs. And Chara learned what a real friend and sister meant to have me by her side."

"Don't get mushy on me, Frisky," she puts and arm around my shoulder to pull me to her shoulder, "We learned together, only you understand all the sciency junk." She laughs and for some reason I join her.

Gaster looks back to Papyrus who must have caught up to him, "So… Your them, but from the future?! And you knew me!?" His eyes were already growing stars by each second.

We both just chuckle, and in unison, "Pap, I think you really sparked a star example in us."

Gaster and Papyrus actually laugh with us this time. I feel like I know more of me now, but my purpose hasn't changed. I look to Chara with a smile, "I know what to do now. I know I said I didn't before and we'd figure it out, but I know who would have a plan. Just have to reach him before we… take a bad turn. Up for this?"

"You're hair-brained plans again? Why not? I'm always in for your plans. What about you two?" Chara grins with a nod, but looks to the two skeletons afterwards.

They look at each other and Gaster nods yes, "I will. Papyrus wants to remain here despite my-"

"I'm coming!" he moves towards the pair of us and hugs us, "If we can save Sans and your younger selves, than count me in. I couldn't reach them before, but we can do this together. All someone needs-"

"-Is a friend beside them to change their mind," Chara, Papyrus and myself finish together.

I hold a hand out to Gaster, "Lets go to the lab, Mr. hidden lab. I found this when I was 20. Well we both did. If we can figure out the technical aspects, then you two can find supplies and get everything ready."

Chara nods with a small chuckle, "Come on, Pap. Lets see if your as fast as your older self says your are. Race you to Snowdin to find supplies." Chara takes off with the duck in hand.

"You think that you can best me, the Great Papyrus. Hey! No cheating!" he follows her out catching up slowly.

With a small chuckle, Gaster takes my hand a bit tightly to grab my attention, "An- Frisk… Answer me something. Why did you do it? I want this from you with no one around."

Heavily sighing, I find myself in a wave of confusion on how to explain this. Settling for straight honestly, I shake my head, "I was dumb, and a bored kid. Chara said we could keep being friends with everyone but after we killed everyone… Let me restart. I wanted to see if it would be permanent. It was. Chara was furious until she snapped too. I remember losing control of who we were as two people. When we woke up years later as two people again, Undyne stood with Alphys. They had fought us to beat us. Once we died, our souls separated…" The memory was beginning to tear me apart inside, causing my grip to tighten on his hand and form a fist with my free hand.

"I messed up. We both did. But Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys… they all gave us hope that we could improve and be better people. They didn't tell us for a year what we did to Sans or the humans on the planet. Because of us, the surface only had monsters left. I wish I had better things to tell you, but I messed up bad. I was 10. I should have been thinking or talking to my friends like I did before. This is my fault. Chara only got sucked into the journey with me."

Gaster listens intently until the end. He just steps in front of me, taking my other hand to make it relax my balled-up fist, "I made a machine that pulled me from anyone's memory until you pulled me out of the void. We all mess up. Now let's fix this together. That wasn't you then. It was something else, as it is now. We need to find you before that happened. If we find them, we have a shot at this. Now, why don't you show me how you found my lab 4 years ago."

He jests with me, but I can't help but smile. I pull him along through to Snowdin with his help being levitated across the river. I show him to Sans' garage where the basic equipment is kept. With a careful push, I moved aside the fake machines to find the tunnel to the real lab, "These were left as a ruse. They don't mean anything. I figured that out early on."

Behind the large, fake display was an icy tunnel leading below, "Hope you like a slide." I jump in like I did before, forgetting that it leads to a puddle of melting ice. Of course, I fall into the puddle as Gaster glides harmlessly past me to the dry ground. He chuckles, "Consider that a lesson that you have to rely on your own senses more so than anyone elses."

"Haha…" I get up and shake off some of the water on him, eliciting a laugh from him. I move past him into the lab and walk to the computer inside the inner lab.

"Do you remember the password?" he walks beside me, "I might know what it is."

I nod my head with a small, sad look, "Gaster…" He stops to think about with a nod. I shake my head, "I found your name in his journal…" I reach under the console into the wiring behind a panel. I pick out the leather bound book, "No records, no reason, no rhyme. I saw your name and your research. I didn't understand much till Alphys taught me to read it."

Gaster looks aside while I feel bad. Thinking back, I move the line of questioning, "Hey Gaster… I have to ask you something important. If we can't stop her, what do we do then? Stop me… Us… I don't know."

He looks to me while the computer loads, "If we can't convince her, then we might have to consider that we cannot save her. Maybe these could be inevitable. Sans dying may not have to be. It is up to how we handle the situation. This is why I'm going to convince Papyrus to stay here and guard the machine with Undyne when she arrives. The three of us are the only ones unnoticeable to the rest of the world. As long as we use Ana instead of Frisk, I think we can go flawlessly through this plan."

"In that case, we should leave Chara with him. He wouldn't be alone and… No offense to Chara but I have to calm her down if someone gets under her skin," I chuckle, noticing a smile from him, "Besides… Chara isn't the only one able to defend herself and jump around like a child. She means well, but maybe three power houses protecting this area is better than one. If you ask me, that idea is better."

He nods in agreement, working in silence afterwards. For what seemed like hours, I couldn't help but feel that there is something that needs to be said, but I don't know what it is. Looking up at Gaster, his gaze is stuck on something as if it's right in front of him making him tense. Moving my gaze to the computer, I struggle with what I'm supposed to do. I hate to see him lost in thought like that. Moving my hand to hold his, I just clear my throat, "You know, if you need to talk, I'm here right? The problem is that most people think bottling things up help. The thing is that you aren't alone anymore. So talk to me if you need to, okay?"

His gaze moves to me with soft smile, which only makes him seem vulnerable, "Yeah. I think that I'm still unused to people beng around to talk to. It is a refreshing change to see someone whose willing to work alongside me. I promise if it's something important to get off my bones, you'll be the first to know. Of course, that means you can't slack off on me."

Nodding, I just squeeze his hand, "Promise. No slacking off. Just needed to tell you that. You seemed like you were somewhere else for a second earlier."

"I was. You said you remembered those events as a vision, but then that means… I think I know how we can go back in time to those specific moments that we need. The problem is that it may cause you some pain, which I'm not very comfortable with," he says as if he is still figuring out how to debate the plan. His look becomes contorted into concern and fear.

Thinking it over, the way I think his mind is heading is towards the link to the soul. The time that the soul has lived inside the timeline is like a set point. That means we can use my soul dot go back only before I started the Genocide path. It makes me cringe to think about how much this actually will hurt when I realize that the links and shock will be directed at my soul. Part of me shivers to think of the pain it could cause unless we- My mind swarms with ideas. Rushing past him, I find a pencil and paper and begin to draw blueprints on the pages. The machine would look like a small extra attachment for a human soul, but really would be a metal box to hold an extra soul as well. That means I can use another soul to go back instead of me. The only issue was the soul.

Gaster must be watching over my shoulder since he speaks from my right shoulder, "Interesting design, but a double chamber insinuates you have a plan to power that time machine."

"Yeah, but that's the problem. We killed all the humans in our time. If she's killed Sans, humans are already dying. If we can get a hold of one of the souls she doesn't take, we could use it to power the machine to go back. Like a second reset button time machine but powered by an external source," I spout off without thinking and look aside, "That's right, we started…"

Gaster puts a hand on my shoulder, "Just focus on me and this task. You said there are souls out there. That means we have to get one. You said it yourself, we are the only two who can act in this timeline while keeping them safe. Frisk wouldn't recognize her older self because you are so very different from who you were. Your hair is much longer and darker than before. It will be fine. I promise."

Before either of us could respond further, Chara instantly calls out from the doorway to the lab, "Oh, I see. We find food and you two get cozy together, huh Frisky? Seems like you found someone you like."

She is just trying to get into my head but it was working for the most part. I turn my to the side, allowing my hair to cover part of my face, "Shut it, Chara. It's not like that."

I hear Chara nudging someone, probably Papyrus by the boney rattle. Papyrus even speaks up in disbelief, "Dad! You're dating?!"

Gaster lets go of my shoulder with a quick movement, making me peak past my curtain of hair to see his face a bit reddened. Nope, I internally think, not thinking too much about this. Nope! Not at all. Not right now!

Instead, I turn to Chara and chase her into a headlock, "Chara, you pest! Why do you always cause trouble?!"

We held our bickering for a minute until I hear my stomach growl. She pulls out of the headlock and holds a bag out to me, "We found food. Spaghetti and sauce. Also some cups and we thought we could melt snow."

Heaving a sigh, I just nod. The problem I now have is that neither of us know how to cook. Before I can speak, Gaster summons a hand to take the bag from Chara, "Papyrus and I will cook dinner in the house. You two should talk things over about the plan." He moves out of the lab with Papyrus in tow.

Chara watches them leave, turning to me curious, "Plan, huh? That fast. I'm impressed. Who we taking on this time? What's our master end game? I'm all ears."

"You're… staying…" I let the words sink in for her to grasp, continuing after a minute or two, "I can act within the timeline quietly with Gaster's help. If we start messing with things, there is a chance we get noticed though. You and Papyrus are strong fighters. You can protect this place. And you can protect me by being here. Your mission, if you so choose to accept it, is to guard me by guarding this machine… Please Chara. You have a very important job that I need you for here."

She takes it in all in slowly and looks over to desk, "Fine. But you have to tell me something first. Why did you pull him out of the void? Don't you remember what Papyr- Of course you don't. You're still a bit scattered aren't you?"

Cocking my head to the side, I realize I don't remember everything just most of it. I've never heard Gaster mentioned before, have I? Maybe, there is too much fuzz to figure it out. Looking to her, I just shrug, "I don't remember smaller details if that's what you mean. Just big ones. Right now, what I can tell you is that he genuinely wants to help Sans and stop everything just like we do."

"Frisk! He's been in that void for how long now? You ever think he might have a screw or two loose up in that skull of his? Papyrus told us it may have been too dangerous to pull him out until before the genocide. I know you didn't remember, but why are you so close to him?" she looks to me with a critical gaze with a hand on my arm, "He may hurt you if you aren't careful in one of his moments of lost concentration."

I slap her hand away with a glare, "Don't act like you knew everything. Papyrus didn't know much about his own Dad until… The journal I found. The effects of long term solidarity. Chara that's it. You're a genius. The void. The void is the key to stopping us. A place we can split them apart during the bad path without doing any damage to the underground. We just have to pick up Sans and the other monsters before Flowey and us can get to them." I hug Chara tightly, "Chara, you brilliant awkward thing. You're the best ever!"

She hugs me back with a small ounce of anger but mostly confusion, "What do you mean the void? Solidarity. Does that mean that you think we can split them apart? If we do that, then what happens to us? Alphys said there were so many time theories, what if we go home and everyone is different and the place is far from what we remember? I don't want to mess with too much. Just stop us from-"

"No, Chara listen. We can stop us. We need Sans from that Genocide time before we started and then we need to get the other monsters to the city and kill the elevators temporarily. It's crowded but they'll be safe there. Promise. I know what I'm doing," I turn to leave and stop with a small ounce of much needed honesty, "And as for Gaster… I don't think he's bad. I think he's been alone a long time, and I'm willing to help him save Sans and stop us all at once. I believe in him and you believe in me. Have some faith. He's a good person and a great dad to Papyrus and Sans. I think he just wants to do right. Remember the methods we're using to traverse time are the ones he invented to try to break the barrier. You trust my science and plans, meaning you trust his too. Just do me a favor and don't bring it up again."

I left before she could speak again. I won't listen to her bad mouth someone she only knows out of jealousy or spite. She knows so little that I can't take her opinion in total faith. I do see what she is saying, I think as I climb my way back out of the lab. He was alone for so long in that place. I can only imagine what it did to him. Even so, he healed me before and helped me out. He even took me away from that city. He may be affected by his time there, but he is trying to be himself again, I see that.

Leaving the garage, I move around the house clutching his coat to me for warmth. Snowdin is pretty still, but so cold. How was I not cold as a kid? I open the front door quickly to get inside with Chara scaring me when she sneaks inside with me. I put the coat on the back of the couch folded up, watching Chara leave to go sit on the other end of it ignoring me. She would be upset for some time if I remember correctly. Deep down, I hoped she understood. For now, I move inside the kitchen, "Hows cooking?"

Papyrus and Gaster were laughing while the food cooked in a pot. It was a hearty yet sad laugh. They must have been talking about Sans. They turn to me, Papyrus smiling, "Almost done to perfection with my special sauce that Undyne taught me. Oh! She texted me. She said she'll keep an eye on your younger self. She also knows where the monsters are hiding the human souls. Dad updated me on the plan. I don't like the idea of using a human soul but if it saves everyone…"

Gaster pat his shoulder lightly, to which I smile to them both speaking, "I know it will. I'm sorry this plan can't be any better but its all we got except for Chara's brilliant idea."

I hear her seem shocked I brought it up. They both incline their heads to listen.

"She mentioned that the void can have altered effects on people. So what if we use it to fight them and split them apart? That way we don't damage any real property and we can make an escape mechanism to get out when we help them. Who knows what kind of change this could prompt in the timeline, but I know it will be worth it. What do you say?" I say in one breath, expecting someone to speak.

Chara actually speaks up, less angry than before, "The idea is that we can stop them inside the void, meanwhile the rest of the monsters hide in the city. We can break the elevators so only we can access them, but no one else. Put Gaster and Frisky in the Judgement Hallway while Papyrus, Sans and I set the device off from afar. We'll all make it a group effort to stop them. 5 on 2 sounds fair considering how powerful we were back then. If the monsters are evacuated, there's a chance that they can't gain that strength. From what we figured out together, we need Sans right before Frisk falls though… Your soul machine might need to be rigged to work on Papyrus instead."

Gaster looks startled while Papyrus looks to both of us in a panic, "What?! No, I can't go back, I have to protect the machine with Chara. If we all go back, things might get messy and how can I help? I'm just-"

"Papyrus, you're the only one whose been there before I was. My soul's link to the timeline is muddled at best along with Chara's link. You are the most stable connection to the timeline before we intervened. Maybe with some time to prepare, we might do this in one shot. We can get there days ahead of time or a week and explain things. If we can do that, we can save everyone," I say smiling to him, "If this doesn't work, I have a risky dumb back up plan that could do that trick. Trust me, Papyrus, we will save them."  
He seems to stop fumbling over words while Chara smiles, "We will protect the machine while we evacuate the monsters. Frisky and Gaster will work on getting the trap set and ready to go. Once they get Sans to join us, we'll spring the trap the day she falls. It was our plan. And… I do trust your choices. If you think you're right on this one, I believe you.

"Just one more thing. She trusts you for some reason and that I will never understand. There is one thing I need to put out there before we start this. You two are already half a fish shy of being Undyne and Alphys back home. So if you two decide anything, keep me out of your weird mushy moments," Chara isn't being mean, just honest. She even adds in, "If you break her heart however, I will raise you from the dead and haunt you myself. Catch my drift, doc?"

I can't tell if Gaster is amused or otherwise blushing. He just nods, "Duelly noted. Just remember that we have to stick to the plan. Partners have to keep calm and protect and aid each other. You can't go off the handle."

I stepped in with a smile, "We all have to watch out for each other. First thing tomorrow lets get to work. For now, let's eat. I'm starving."

We all sit down to eat the spaghetti with smiles and laughs. It was peaceful and we all seem to enojoy the time to relax. Tomorrow, who knows if that will continue. There is bloody work ahead indeed…


	3. Tell Me the Truth

The morning is a blur from the night Gaster and I had. We worked on the device all night in the lab. Last I remember, we were writing code for the recall based on how Alphys and I rigged my reset button. The code wasn't difficult, just long enough of a process that we traded off from time to time. It was his turn last, but I must have dozed off. A hand is securely held around my shoulder. I look up to see that Gaster is asleep beside me at the desk. The green bubble around us is keeping out anyone else. I raise my hand to wipe the sleep from my eyes.

He moves a bit, jolting me slightly. With a raise of his arms, he stretches a bit. I feign sleep while he seems to laugh at something. I feel his coat go over my shoulders, hearing him laugh, "At least she was within the shield this time." He lets me fake sleep there, leaving me in the room alone. I stop hearing his footsteps. After a minute or two, I guess I feel sleepy again.

For what feels like hours, I doze. The smell of freshly made coffee wakes me up. I lift my head to see him holding a cup of coffee in front of my face. His smile is trying to hold back a laugh, "I thought this might wake you up. For what it's worth, I'm impressed you stayed within the shield this time before you fell asleep."

"Wait, you stayed up after me to keep coding? How much sleep did you get?" I take the coffee with a small worried look at him.

He just sits back in the chair beside me with a frozen look about him, "I did sleep. Not long, but I'll be fine. I'll take a nap today at some point. For now, we should keep coding. Chara and Papyrus are currently out getting the human soul for us. They told me to let you know that they can do this task on their own."

With a shiver, I just look at the coffee in the white mug, "I don't know… She… We… Gah, I don't know. _It_ is up there. I hope they call when they-"

"They're fine. I promise. I'll teleport us up there if they need us. I think I still remember the coordinates for the surface areas. For now… How about we think on something else. I wanted to ask about this at the time before, but it felt to be the wrong time. You said you saw me with a friend of mine. You really saw that?" he asks, turning the monitor off.

He seems serious as he stares at the black of the monitor. I think through my response thoroughly before I speak, "I did… I know now that I was following Chara. It was when she fell. The memory was always strange to me. You existed back then and all of the sudden, nothing. Chara filled me in and Sans kind of did through the time I knew him. The person who tends the boat mentioned you too, in their own way."

His face seems to loosen up, almost seems relieved or even strangely happy, "So he did remember me and a few others did as well. I think honestly that I'm still confused why you brought me here."

"Simple, though Chara dislikes my decision to do that. I knew you didn't deserve that. I knew it from Sans' face when he spoke in riddles about you. He always looked sad and no one knew you in entirety," I say while tapping my right index on the mug, "No one deserves to be lost like that. I felt lost for years until we woke up. I wanted to help you, despite Chara and Papyrus telling me not to do that. Sure, you almost blasted me, but I knew you wouldn't let me get hurt. You didn't leave me with my leg crushed either, so you can't be that bad."

If I see it correctly, he is looking aside. He doesn't speak, though I take that moment to drink my entire cup in one go, "I'll go get a refill." Leaving the room, I realize he made a ramp to get out of the lab. The hidden machine entrance was redesigned as an open door. I move through the snow, happy for his coat keeping me warm. Once I get in the house, I move into the kitchen to find a half full coffee pot. I refill my cup with a sigh, saying out loud to myself, "Idiot… What were you saying?"

A knock at the door draws me to turn around with an inch of fear. I put the coffee pot back on the warmer and move carefully to the door, "Whose there?"

"I was told that you all were down here and thought you might need some food. Is it okay if I come in?" a familiar mothering voice spoke from the other side of the door.

I hesitate, worrying about opening the door. I reach for the handle and shiver. I turn the handle and open the door slowly, "That's really… nice of you. Gaster is down in the lab, that is if you were looking for him."

She freezes in her tracks and drops the covered basket in the snow, "My child?... Papyrus told me that you were Frisk, but I didn't think I'd see you grow up like this."

I turn my head away, knowing her future wasn't bright. The pain to see her causes me to remember seeing her grave. Without thinking, I hug her, "I'm glad to see you again. I missed you so much. You don't even know."

She just seems to let out a sigh of relief, returning the hug, "It's okay. I'm right here now." She hugs me for a minute or so until she puts me at arm's length, "We should go inside and put these groceries away. It's cold out here."

I pick up the basket for her and we both head inside. She is unsteady at my presence, but happy as far as I can see. The idea of being around her again makes me happier than ever. I set the basket on the counter and help her unpack it, "I'm sorry I just-"

"Chara explained some things to me on her way to somewhere else she wouldn't say. I'm glad you both are okay. She told me you've both been through a lot and came back to help us. That is all that counts. You both aim to help people despite everything you've been through. It is wonderful that you both held such views even through it all," she speaks while loading the near empty fridge with cold vegetables, fruits and meats to cook.

Putting away spaghetti, sauce jars and ground coffee containers, I see a familiar pie on the bottom in a container. I just chuckle with a tear leaving my eye, "I remember this pie. The best butterscotch cinnamon pie ever made. I never truly could make it right after… Well after I woke up. Believe me, we tried. Our attempts were pretty bad. But we learned to cook."

She moves over to me and puts a paw on my shoulder, "I thought you might like this. Chara ate one whole pie on her own. I am glad you tried to cook though. It can be very fun, despite the bad attempts. I know you'll get better one day."

"Mom… I want to ask something. When you met Dad, how did you- Forget it. I didn't say anything," I blunder out and shut up just as fast.  
Mom laughs, pulling my chin to look at her with a gentle paw, "You'll know when you see them. If they make you want to keep waking up and trying again, well that's the sign. Asgore and I had that for so long and even now we do." She hugs me again, tighter this time, "Frisk, I have to return before they get home. Please be safe. I know things will work out, but you better let me meet this person you're so interested in."  
I blush in her hug and dig my face into her shoulder, "Promise. Just give me time. I gotta figure this all out first. And don't let them come to the underground."  
She nods and leaves. I feel sad watching her go with her basket, but I know it's for the best. Within seconds, I think to look around. No one in sight while I anguish over why I asked her that. Looking beside the point, I feel lost looking at the door. Pulling Gaster's coat closer while I pick up my coffee, I move out the door. I bump right into Gaster with hot coffee without thinking.  
"Ouch!" Gaster says as he steps back.  
I panic and go to find paper towels. Opening a cupboard, I find a roll and bring a few to him, "I'm sorry! I wasn't watching and-"  
"It's fine. I should have a spare shirt in the lab. Don't worry," he dabs a bit at the coffee with the towel. Smiling, he looks to me, "I came to check on you, but after seeing Toriel leave… I understood."  
I seem to feel at a loss, "When she came, I didn't know what to do or say. I just blundered on. Guess I'm really nervous around her still."  
He pats my shoulder, leading me into the living room after he shuts the door, "Well, parents arehard to reconnect with after a long time. It is difficult for her as well. Papyrus and I will have to take our time as will Sans and I. It is tough to regain that connection knowing the truth behind everything."  
"Thanks… Is it okay to ask you something? You said this invention of yours was meant to cut through the barrier but instead it cut through space. What if we modify my machine with yours? We can use it to access the void and"– I stop myself while I watch him sit down on the couch with his head in his hands, "Gaster? Did I say something wrong?" I move towards him and set a hand on his shoulder, "Hey- Wow!"

His hand snaps out of nowhere with a far more aggressive gesture than I thought he might use. Thankfully I jump backwards in time to get out of the way, suddenly happy for some of my training from my bad past. He just stares at the floor with a shake of his head, "This plan… It can't be me in the void. I know you want it to be, but you just got me out of there. I'm not sure I can go, A-Frisk…" He corrects himself, but seems to be stressing over this a lot.

"Then what if it was Chara and I. I don't want you to stress out. I've seen the symptoms okay. I hate to see them in you and I wish I would have remembered everything before I made that machine… I won't make you do this. I'll manage. Determination has always managed before, right?" I spout out with the hope of sounding tougher than I really feel. In reality, I avoided my powers in the past. The ability to be a killer or fight back. I only use my reflexes now. Taking a step into the kitchen with my back turned, I realize how selfish I am to ask this of him. He seemed in support of it last night, fact is that he isn't in support of him going in. I'm cruel to ask this of him.

I hear the couch cushion draw in air, re-inflating as if someone is standing up. The door opens and then shuts. I turn around to see an empty living room. I pour myself a new cup of coffee, moving out the door towards the lab. He needs space which means I'll work while he's gone. I'm an idiot for bringing that all up. Oh well, for now I need to work. This allows us time to think. Maybe he just needs space. I walk down into the lab, empty as I expect. I sit down in the chair I previous used last night. I find myself typing in test code and running it. It works for three seconds during the boot up process and fails. Twenty minutes of failure and frustration, I find myself needing space.

I leave his jacket on his chair and leave the lab to head towards the river where the ferry worker was before. With a sigh, I watch the river and shake my head. Within seconds, I feel myself build up a wave of frustration that goes into my fist. Of course, I take my frustration out on a tree beside the river with a cry of anger. The tree splinters with red glowing lines through it until it explodes into pieces. Instinctively, I cover my eyes with my arms while I feel splinters and air rush past me. My arm aches once I finally let them down. I see wood splinters all across my arms and clothing.

Sinking to my knees, I just feel the cold make my arms numb enough to bare the pain. The feeling of pain is dulled when I finally stand a minute or two later. I could feel myself pulling from the stability I was at when Chara and I left for this journey. I stare at the imploded trunk and leaves laying in the snow and river, "Sorry tree. I didn't mean it on purpose. I forget that I'm supposed to stay calm for a reason."

A familiar green glow with blue tinges covers my arms. I watch the splinters come out nearly all at once with a wince, which heal shortly after. Turning my head, I see Gaster standing a few feet behind me with an examining gaze, "You aren't well either. So you know about my condition. But what about your condition?[JH1] Does Chara know you're still struggling with this? Or has this been bottled up like my own problem has been?"

I turn my head to look at the snow. My fears of being discovered in this state have finally come true. The reflection of the river reminds me of the glowing red eyes and my soul kindling with a hazy flame coming off of it. My throat catches slightly when I try to speak and I end up stuttering, "C-c-condition? What condition? I'm fine. I'm always fine. Nothing to see here." I knew this lie is fading far from a way to keep this frustration down much longer. Deep down, I knew what I am feeling; regret, anger, despair, disappointment, and fear. Fear, I repeat to my subconscious, is the thing that is eating me alive that I can become that thing again with or without Chara.

Gaster merely looks at me, allowing me to tell he is seeing through the act. With a sigh, he heaves me to my feet and back toward the house. He detours to Grillby's and to a booth inside. This whole time, I stop feeling cold or much of anything. The emblazoned soul is warming me plenty despite my best measures to think calmly. He sits across from me and holds out a journal, "You read my work, so you know me better than anyone. So, let me tell you what I didn't put in that journal and then you can tell me your story. The one no one else knows. Fair?"  
He is bartering with me and I'm scared to barter with him for some reason. It feels like if I barter with him, I'll be forced to face that part of me I dread. The voice calling me that I hide away behind my overwhelming positivity of my determination, though that voice builds slowly in the shadows. Regretting this deep down, I nod yes and take the journal, "I know you said you found a way out, but it failed… And I know the void has unforeseen psychological side effects that monsters and people alike that most would call an onset of insanity…"

"That's a way to put it, but that isn't what drove me to be this on edge. I watched timeline after timeline where my son dies. Every time, I'm helpless. That type of torture can destroy you from within. It's why I was struggling so much to start. Now that I'm out and people are around again, well it is trying. It's easier around another scientist but even so there is this edge that I will be swallowed again," he says all of this with a distraught look to his face. He really is on edge and falling apart underneath which is nice to know I'm not alone but still… It's sad for him.

I set the journal in front of him with a hopeful smile despite my own underlying edge, "When I read this, I knew what I would be bringing out. That being said, I wanted to help you and Sans. No one is left behind or left to go on alone. It's unfair. That aside, I did that all unconsciously despite Pap's warning. He was afraid to let you out in the future we reside in. But now you're here. I wanna help you… Even if it means I have to confront my demons and yours. Afterall we're lab partners, right?" Holding a hand out to him, he seems to take it with a more upbeat look to him.  
He takes this moment to look at me confused, "How do you have this confidence and determination when you are so broken underneath? How is your soul intact?" His question strikes home and hard.

With a moment to think, I shake my head while I release his hand, "I'm…" My throat seizes up while I look to the table until I force the words out, "I know what we became or at least I felt it coming back then. I thought less of it until we woke up years later. That darkness, that emotion still drives me even now. I'm a ticking time bomb [JH2] as you saw and these abilities getting stronger is a sign of it. This time it's different. This is all me, not both Chara and I. So, when I fall apart, this will be my fault… I didn't tell anyone because up until recently I have been able to hide it. The small things like causing objects to implode or sometimes cut them in pieces in this way is just a symptom. Chara is fine but I'm not. I'm…."

"Like me," he says and laughs a bit, "Guess we're both broken. How about we keep each other on our feet? I'll go into the void with you if you help me remain myself, in return I'll do the same for you. Sound like a deal? If we agree, neither of us could fall apart and we don't have to worry them."

With a small bitter laugh of my own, "A real pair in that respect… Fine. I agree. Just part of this is not to tell them. We can't worry them during this. Deal? We tell them after it's all done."

He nods and points to my soul[JH3] . It finally seems calm and normal. He looks to me, "I think I can make a set of goggles to hide the glow of your eyes while we finish coding. As for your soul… Well I'll just have to keep an eye socket on you. Broken lab partners?" He offers his hand.  
I take his hand with a small laugh, "That means that I have two sockets on you too. No bone head moves."

We both share a laugh which feels good to finally understand someone. I'm as broken as he is and that's okay. We can make this work. With a small look of concern, I look around, "We should get back to work before we're suspected of anything."

"First, you should borrow some clothes from the lab. I might have a spare turtle neck but you may have to borrow shorts from Sans' room," he notions to my splinter covered clothes. I just nod and think, "If I'm correct, I have a place to get some clothes my size. Go to the lab, I'll-"

He shakes his head no, "No. Where to?" He keeps a hold of my hand.

"Fine… Undyne's house. She may have a spare set of pants and tank top I can borrow. Maybe some shoes too. It feels wrong to root around but I know she has spares," I say with a small chuckle.

Instantly we're standing outside her house. I go inside, leaving him outside a moment while I look. I find a leftover tank top, jeans and her red boots. I change inside and leave a note that I am borrowing them. I get outside of her house to find him holding a coat for me. I just laugh and take it, letting the two of us return to coding without a word. We break through the lines with ease thanks to our refocus on work. This all feels calming in retrospect. Chara and Pap will be home by dinner he tells me while we work and things seem peaceful. Time moves slowly now, but in a good way. I'm glad I get to finally tell someone. It feels like a weight has been lifted from me today…


	4. How Hard Can This Be

You know I always thought of myself as clever. Chara did too. Too bad that cleverness is not much more than an echo of some long-forgotten instinct still buried deep underneath unless I should lose control of my abilities again. Unlike last time, I have Gaster to help me keep that from happening but also to make sure I help him as well. The reason clever comes into this is because Chara came running back with Papyrus in tow panicked. I'm clever for having finished the design with Gaster before they got home.

I only say this because I planned ahead for Chara to lose her temper or our younger self to be smarter than we believed we were. I know what this power does to me now, but to her then… Who knows. I know it's a number I can't yet define.

Chara races inside the garage, Papyrus trailing her. She calls out, "We gotta go. Load the soul quick!"

"What did you-" I begin until a loud explosion sounds outside. I held the device to Gaster, "Take care of setting this up. I'm going to send our friend packing far out of range."

Gaster takes my shoulder for a moment with a cautious glance talking low, "Are you sure?"

"You'll come get me, right? Then I know I can at least do this for now…" I say somewhat determined as a ruse. I move myself up the stairs, two at a time with a leap. Once I discreetly sneak around the house, I move as if I came out of Grillby's restaurant and see her.

See us…. The pre-teen, still in that ugly sweatshirt, jean shorts, shoes and bowl cut.

I shiver a bit and shake my head. I kick off the ground and focus every out of control thought or feeling I have. The slam that I was aiming at her with a glowing fist is swiftly caught. A mutilated tear between Chara's half-joking/half-twisted tone comes out muddled with mine, "Oh! And here I thought we were the only ones with this power. The corruption that is determination. Aren't you rare!"

Before she can hit me with a punch of her own, I use the built-up magic to launch me back. I feel myself growing out of control, but they need more time. Her [JH1] stance tells me that I have her attention now. Speaking plainly, I grin at her, "You know, I should applaud you but instead I think I'll just serve up roasted human. I've had more practice with this power." Good, I thought, a shove. Let's dance.

She launches at me in seconds to try to catch me off guard with a red blade she pulls from thin air. A swift dodge to the side and I grin elatedly, "Oh how cute. Now here's my trick." I focus every ounce of my energy into this hit. The fist collides into her chest, sending her through clear into the ruins. Sinking to a knee, I try to call out but nothing happens. Shivering, I remember this feeling with red smoke building around me.

Green hues my vision when the bubble materializes around me. It moves me back to the entrance of the garage where Gaster is waiting. He levitates me a moment, letting the bubble disappear. He looks at me with an expectant gaze, "Reckless… And barely unseen if I had not asked Chara to wait down there. Next time, let me help. Let's go."

The ground comes to meet me slowly like I remember once. My feet move quickly after him, my mind still racing from the fight. When did I learn to do that? And why did it seem natural and… fun?

Chara runs over to me the moment I enter the basement, "Frisk! What happened? Why did you go alone? How did you send her back? A new invention?"

Gaster speaks quickly to cover my tracks, "Yes. A repulsor. She's gone for now. Let's go… Papyrus are you ready?"

"Of course, the great Papyrus is ready to go back and save the timeline," he jokes with us with a good-humored smile.

Gaster holds his hand as Chara takes Pap's free hand. I smile as I take Chara and Gaster's hand, "Don't let go. This can go wrong fast. Or just make you- Wow!"

Without warning, the device kicks to life while I'm speaking. It pulls us into a streamline until it yanks us backwards, jerking us through the time stream. The stream was like watching everything that ever happened to Papyrus happen all over again in reverse. Watching him die hurts the most when I see the red build up. That's when I notice the red glow of our eyes when we give the killing blow.

"Pap!" Chara calls out as I turn to see her looking at the one we have hooked up to the device.

He's falling unconscious slowly, but I know why. The strain of the machine. I look to Gaster with an urgent terror, "We need to get out of this. Can you pull us out with your abilities? The way you levitate objects?"

"I can try. Hold on tight," Gaster says as his eyes take on a set of multiple hues. We start moving out of the stream of time and out into the snow. We all tumble apart. Papyrus falling short of a tree thanks to Gaster's help, only leaving Gaster open to fall back first into the snow. Chara eats snow face first and I fall ungracefully on my rear end into a snow pile. The machine fizzes and shorts out as it detaches from his soul, the human soul we attached having been completely used up.

I'm the first to get up immediately, or rather dig myself out of a snow pile. I shiver a bit with a cautious glance around us, "Did it work?... Where.. Snowden Forest, right." Moving to Chara, I slide to her side, "Chara! Hey wake up!"

She punches me in the arm and proceeds to get up after, "You said this invention works… I don't call throwing us into snow working, gear head." She wipes the snow out of her hair and face with a laugh.

"True," I turn to look at Papyrus who is completely knocked out, "We may have bigger problems though. We're in between the times of the last human falling and us. Without knowing the date, I know from his visual records that this gives us a week at the least. If we made it that is…"

Gaster moves to Papyrus to heal him with a sigh, "He's just sleeping. We calculated the strain might do this. I know he'll be fine. But he needs a place to rest first."

Thinking carefully, I just think back to something I saw with the glow. The glow distracts me from my original thought until Chara slaps me, "Frisk, you're glowing… Why are you glowing?"

Refocusing my efforts, I feel a skeletal hand on my shoulder [JH2] as the green glow counter acts my own, "No. Just another side effect of the machine. It can cause a reaction in a second human soul as a backup power source. It must have used some of her strength to finish the journey."

With a small sigh, I stand with Chara's help without wobbling, "I forgot that if we programmed a soul as a source it might try to find a second source… Sorry Chara. But I might know where to let him rest. But it's going to be hard to explain to her."

Chara goes to ask but stops. She looks aside like I do and nods, "True."

Gaster levitates Papyrus in a shield for safety, following us toward the mountainous edge of the mountain. I knock with Chara as we speak in unison unintentionally, "Mom, we're home."

At first there is nothing to be heard but snow falling off trees. That is until a familiar set of paw pads are running the pavement of the hallway beyond with a slight hitch to her breath. The door moves slowly at first but then quicker. Toriel stands at the doorway opening with a shocked look of exhaustion on her face. She puts a hand on Chara's cheek and tears well, "My child…" She hugs her delicately.

Part of me knows she doesn't know me yet nor will she till the future. Time is… Bitter sometimes. I see Chara crying happily which is good though. Chara pulls back from the hug and smile, "Mom this is…-"

"Doctor Gaster! A surprise to see you here. What happened to Papyrus?" Toriel moved over to look at Pap inside Gaster's shield.

Gaster looks to me concerned, "He fell. He just needs a place to rest while my home is renovated. You know my lab is no place for a young skeleton to sleep except if I do so when working. This here is my new lab assistant."

She lets us in while we follow her and Chara up the stairs. I whisper to Gaster, "No one could know you're back but then what's going on?"

"Time. If I am back, then I am remembered. Sans may not know the difference but the others will soon," Gaster speaks quietly back to me worried, "We need to be ready for anything."

I nod as I see she lets Papyrus sleep in the bedroom I remember seeing as a child. She lets us follow her to the living room to explain. Chara searches our gazes as if it had information.

Stepping in, I speak up before Gaster says more, "We were working on a new theory of Doctor Gaster's when Papyrus came in. He fell on some oil."  
"Silly child. He always had a way of finding trouble. But how did you come by my daughter?" Toriel is probing now. I'm more worried now.

Gaster steps in confidently, "You said you couldn't find her, so my device that I theorized worked. I thought it was safe to take her home. Besides, my lab assistant and I have very careful cleaning to do."

Chara stays silent until Toriel nods, "Alright. I will let Papyrus know where you went. Please be safe."

He leads me out of the ruins and into the snow again with a quick glance around, "Well if Chara is staying, so much the better… But we have to fix your appearance. You're lucky she only had eyes for Chara. We need to hide your appearance and this should help." He holds out a hooded lab coat, "Something I made while you slept that night we were coding. Try it on."

When I put it on, I notice the large faux wolf ears, and feel the weight on the back. I turn until I get a hold of a tail, eliciting a chuckle from Gaster. He held out a mask, "This will help tie it together." I put that on and could see perfectly. The tail belted into my jeans only seen as a tail through the back of the coat, the ears and mask attached so it stays on no matter how I move. I jumped a bit as I notice my red glow fading. Gaster pulls back the collar of the hood to show a small chip, "It hides your soul and its glow. Keeps you safe from others seeing your soul or its effect until we've had time to get you to my lab. After we complete whatever plan it is that gets us to Sans."

I smile behind the mask with a small laugh as I point to myself, "I'm the bait. Thanks to you, I'm just out of the ordinary enough to belong, but not enough for Sans not to notice. So co-master planner where am I leading him to? And can I borrow two of those floating hand things?"

He grins at the realization of my idea. The words that came next were shockingly honest, "How devious your mind does work when you think. I only wish I've known someone like you before…" He stops himself and gets back to the point, "The forest has no cameras. Bring him from his post. I'll get ready for arrival. Why did we go so far back in comparison to the plan?"

"Don't worry about that right now. Make sure you don't forget to stop me when I get here. I might lose control a bit," I smile to him. He summons two hands as I have them in place of my own hands, "Trust me when I say these will get his attention."

Taking off, I find the path quickly. With a lightfooted darting movement, I set my sleeve and fake hands at my side. Sliding to a stop near his post, I look around and call out in howl. If he is asleep like usual, it'll wake him up.

"Yo, furball. I'm trying to sleep here," a familiar, sleep deprived younger skeleton calls from the stand. He was still in his usually crap mood too.

With a small grin under the mask, I pull out the fake hands with a wave.

"Wait… Where did you get those? Answer me dog? And why have I never seen you before?" he demands with a blue glow to his eyes.

I knew this glow. He is trying to levitate a monster. Too bad for him. I just put them back in my pockets and threw a snowball at him. Once I see him fall back with a snowball in his eye, I run away towards the forest line and into the trees. One of the hands grabs a hold of my wrist and a blaster head appears behind me. Before I glance too long, I find myself in awe as it explodes from a blast. Knowing the result to come, I hit the deck. The snow starts out as cold till it melts a bit. I see my arms of my long lab coat glow red, "Oh no…"

"Oh… So you can bark too, furball? How about you tell me where you got the hands? Or should we fry up some… Glowing dog… Wait a minute, you're not-" Sans starts at me until I feel light as air and levitation keeps me out of his reach.

Gaster lands me behind him slightly with a wary gaze to me. I shrug as I calm down a bit. The glow fades with a sigh as he speaks to me, "I told you to be careful… But now I have to talk to him."

I put a hand on his arm, "It's not every day you get a second chance. We came back this far and I told you I'd be with you. So here I am."

He nods and looks back at Sans who stands in awe. With a moment of thought, I see Gaster figure something out, "Sans, I know it's been awhile. I'm sorry."

"You… You're locked in the void. Wait, did furball here get you out?" he eyes me carefully.

I shrug keeping my hands in my long sleeves. Gaster moves towards Sans, "Yes…" He stops nearby Sans and seems awkward about it, "It's difficult to ask this of you but I need you trust what you observed is correct."

Sans watches Gaster and then looks me over, "Not a monster that got you out. Besides I know she didn't exist before. Quick on her paws though. I could tell her bite is worse than her bark but you didn't want to hurt me. Anyways, what do I call her?"

"A-" Gaster starts.

"Frisk," I cut him off and take off the mask. Moving towards him with a smile, "I'm glad to meet you. But we can't stay for a long chat. I just need you to keep this device. It looks like an add on for your phone but it's just important you keep it."

Sans takes the small box that I made for him. I am glad that he took the teleporter. Now I have a way to stop him from being in Judgement Hall. Sans looks at me, "Relocator… Where will you take me from when you step in? And what exactly do you know is coming?"

Gaster puts a hand on his shoulder, "Something bad enough. I need you to trust me. Please. And listen carefully. There is a human coming that is a good human, just… Frisk…"

"They need you and more than anything a friend. Trust that you will learn about them over time and that's all I can tell you right now without crushing the plan. Just never lose that device. It's important to you and many others. I promise," I smile to him as he nods.

He turns to leave and looks over his shoulder one last time, "You're coming back again, right G?"

"Of course. I have to fix something first. Trust that I will return. And the next time I do, I won't leave," Gaster responds with a look to me, "I have to help her fix something beyond her abilities to do so right now."

Sans leaves us alone in the forest as I look up at Gaster. Gaster wears a bitterly happy smile. He wants to go with him but he knows about the plan. With a nudge, I smile to him, "Let's go back. I have a way to get us forward in time, but it won't be pleasant."

He nods and takes us back to Toriel's house in the ruins with a quick teleport. Toriel is still in the living room talking to Chara. Chara hasn't smiled like she is now in a long time. It's really nice to see. I held Gaster's arm, shushing him before we interrupt. Gaster only smiles to me as I watch this. He leaves down the hall to check on Papyrus. I just watch until an audible, "Ow," leaves my lips. I feel like my ribs are broken or at least hurt. I fall back against the wall, my head spimming[JH3] .

Chara and Toriel come into my hazy view. Toriel carefully sets a paw on my forehead, "Doctor Gaster, your[JH4] assistant fainted."

I could feel Chara holding my hand with a slight shake. Gast moves to the other side of my view as he heals the damage, "What happened?"

"My ribs hurt and then… I don't know. My head is pounding. The last time I felt like this was when I-" I start until my voice stops, "We need to leave. All of us."

Gaster and Chara exchange looks until Gaster thinks, "Toriel go get some water. She isn't thinking straight." When she left, he continues, "We can't, Papyrus is still unconscious. His soul can't take the strain."

Chara pipes up confidently, "Give it to me and lets just take him with us. I was there in a few runs of this. Get him. I'll get her on her feet."

Gaster hands her the device and doubles back to get Papyrus. Chara smiles to me, "I'm still the one who's[JH5] stronger to help out huh? You get tired from a fall."

My voice is refusing to vocalize without pain as all I can say is 'Don't.' She shakes her head, "Nope. Sorry. It's my turn to use my own plan."

Gaster comes out helping Papyrus walk, "Whenever we go, it has to be now."

"Got it. Frisky, hold on… Frisk… Darnit…" I hear Chara speaking to me but the world is greying out slowly. Whatever I am supposed to be hearing is nothing more than a few blurs. At least the pain is gone…

_Sometime Later_

The room spins on end, but this room is one I recognize with sorrow and exuberance. The Judgement Hall gleams with light as usual. The room is bright and still clean of any indications of fighting. I lift my head with a bit of haze in my vision. With a good breath or two, I feel fine. That being said, my mask is on. What is going on? Where did we jump to? Where is Chara and the others?

A voice calls out in an argumentative tone, male but younger, "You're kidding me, right? You wanna do what to this kid? She can't take that! Not even just that. The other human helping you is dust thanks to that device. You're[JH6] stuck here now without a way out. Not that I'm complaining but she might mind if she can't get back home. This is crazy. Even if I can keep this generator running this void device, what's to-"

"Stop. I know it'll work. She wouldn't have risked this all so far. Besides. We have time. Thanks to what Chara did for us, as did Papyrus… There is time to rebuild the device or find a better way. I only hope Frisk can take this new…" the very familiar older skeleton speaks up solemnly. Gaster is saying words past this but I can't hear him anymore.

Forcing myself to my feet, I remove my mask to get a fresh breath. My legs want to give out but every part of me fights the urge. The steps I take around the pillar to see the two in front of the window. Clearing my throat, I ignore my tears as they fall, "Where is Chara? Where did she go? She should have been able to withstand the pressure. We were determination… You're ly… lyin…lying…."

Their gazes turn to me with a somber look. Gaster moves towards me until I slam the pillar with a fist as it cracks, "No! Don't 'Frisk' me! I'm not going to hear it. Her soul is just as strong as mine. She… No…"

Sans speaks up in Gaster's moment of loss, "Kid… Frisk, she got you guys here. But her soul wasn't pure determination. Those cracks on the pillar tell me you must have the real deal. I think she had a lesser copy. She saved you though."

"Saved me for what? I did this for us. For Toriel, you, the others who were killed, the humans and her ability to have her family back. All of this was so that the friend that saved me from that fall could live and Gaster could find you again. She was stronger than…" the words falter in the end. I sink to my knees unable to process the feelings.

Gaster moves to kneel in front of me with a hand on my shoulder. He uses his hand under my chin to raise my gaze to a device in his hand I recognize. Chara had previously kept our way home. But now… I couldn't face the others now. Falling forward, I just cry into his shoulder with every loss of the monsters I knew equaling and duplicating in effect when Chara's death adds in. After some time, I realize that my eyes are dry. I can't cry a single tear at this point. With an echo of her personality in my head, I hear her tell me to keep going.

I stand with Gaster's help and pull my mask on, "How much time do I have?"

Sans speaks up, still a bit grim, "_We_ have four days till she falls for this run. You've been out for the one we had before this."

"Sans and I did discover a caveat. Any damage to your personal younger self won't do anything but hurt you. You're existing in the same point. We need the two of you at the point where your souls are disassociated with the monster you became. The moment you faded. Otherwise this will fail," Gaster elaborates some ideas that were clearly spoken of before I woke.

Taking the device from Gaster, I take out a small screw driver and begin taking the homing beacon apart. Before the two can say anything, I speak up, "I'm going to do something that breaks the timeline or saves it. I'm bringing you back a week or so before the day I lost myself. We can't act until I say but I know when. You see, I forgot this was in her pocket but you realized it Sans. I wasn't me anymore. That day, my humanity and determination warped into corruption. She told me that before we traveled the first time. That means if we hit her before she murders you in the present of where I was before…. No one is dead yet."

"You're seriously telling me that the little pipsqueak kills me? Hah!" Sans laughs but pauses upon Gaster's expression, "Wait if she kills me here then how did I…"

Somber words never taste more bitter than now to me, "I restarted. I broke my soul with my last effort and went back. You were my breaking point. So, I let you all live and we went to the surface. Then I… I don't know. I lose memories after the message that you gave me telling me that we should talk. But we can't just stroll in. I still exist there. So instead I do something more dangerous. I cause a restart. I wake up back where I was before. In that village and leave. I talk you into helping mwe and Gaster will come through a gate we make. We make things happen at the new present for me. I'm not going home…"

Gaster takes my arm with look but only sees my mask. He sighs with a small chuckle, "I guess it is so… Will I remember you? Anything of this? The odds can't be-"

"100%. The void maintains memory. Just remember me and Chara… **IF** we do this right, Chara will be alive again and I can find you Sans. Then we get Chara and I make the gateway with your help. Problem is that I need something to convince you in the future of being sincere?" I say to Gaster and turn to Sans.

Sans laughs as he takes out a ketchup bottle, empty but filled with something, tossing it to me, "Figured you make some dumb plan like dying to force a restart. That being said, that note will do the trick. What about you? Your memory?"

With a newly tinkered box I held up, I smile to them, "This. It was meant to take us home on a modified system. I'll wake up with this cloak on, the bottle and the device will disappear… Together, we have a shot. But that being said, it takes one heck of a shot. Still though, I have the device but I have to die still… The system won't activate without that condition."

They each exchange looks until Sans looks at me, "Got it. Don't mess this up okay." He summons the blaster so effortlessly. The shot hits me and my soul cracks with a familiar pain. The box whirrs to life while my world blurs. I see Gaster one last time with a smile, "I'll get you out, promise …"

_Back at the Beginning of this Tale-Kinda_

The familiar garage and poorly constructed bed remind me of Aruthop. I know I'm back here. This time I remove the blankets to see my cloak on and ketchup bottle in hand. With a small smile, I know I have to go. Rushing to a calendar, I find myself cheering with joy, "Yes! I have 14 days! This is the first day I was here without memory. Wait.. my memory! Haha! Alphys you nut, it works… But… I won't see you again. Wait… I have to- Right go."

Peering out the door, I find myself seeing an empty yard at the pitch of night. Another weight in my other pocket makes me see the relocator. That clever bonehead snuck in the relocator device. It takes me to his home. Chara is in Tem Village. Activating the protocol, I see a shimmer cross around me until I find myself in the living room of Sans' home. With a small triumphant squeal, I rush outside and down the path. Before the duck can ask me, I jump the gap at full speed. Moving quickly, I find myself in Temmie Village. Looking around, I call out, "Chara! Chara! Where are you? I know you. I can't explain it all but we… We…"

But no one comes…

No. I didn't fail. She has to be. I restarted this whole mess. Maybe… Maybe…

Taking off in a fury of hopeful sprints, I move towards town and find no one. Something in the library moves, giving me a place to run to now. The only issue is that I walk in to see Sans writing in the same book that I found before. Slamming to a stop, I see a blaster appear beside me and threaten to let loose[JH7] a blast.

"How did you get down here and who are you?" an older and more tired voice calls out from Sans. I never knew how he felt at this time period. But now I get it.

Holding my hands up, ketchup bottle in hand, I speak up slowly, "A younger version of you told me to give this to you. Said you'd help me stop the human you call Frisk. Take it."

He sets the book down, open-faced. Levitating the bottle over, he opens it with a skeptical look at me. Turning to the page he found inside, he seems to stop and begins to grin. With a small laugh, he just sets the letter on the book, "You really came back to stop yourself? I know I'm losing it now. You can't both exist now."

"I shouldn't be able to, no. Not without Alphys giving me a device that does just that. And to prove it, you're writing that the monster that I became… Well it wasn't me. It was determination mutating into the monster who wants everyone dead. I know I can't make it up to you for everything I've done wrong but I can help you stop what will happen… Sans, I gave up my only way home for this and… potentially my best friend too if she really is dead," I let loose all the information I can, saving the last tidbit for last, "Also, I have a way to bring Gaster home. He wants to see you."

Sans listens and becomes more distant as the grin fades, "Gaster is… Somewhere no one should be."

Not hesitating, I move to the book he was writing in and flip to the next blank page. I start drawing the schematics I know by heart. I knew them altogether and their parts. Not failing to impress, I even wrote in the language that Gaster uses. Handing him the book, I just confidently look at him, "Believe it or not, this is my second time in this time period. Last time I made it by accident. This time, I know how to recreate the accident. He saved my life more times than I care to count. Still is, if you consider his technology and notes got me here."

His gaze changes as his grin returns. With a smile, he looks at me with an expectant, skeptical glance, "Fine. But we work on it here. And you have be honest. What the hell happened to your determination? I can see your soul with a subtle glow to it. What happened to your soul? And why is it there now?"

Looking down at the red soul with a hued glow, I shiver. With a moment of clarity, I just sigh and speak up, "You never told anyone about the restarts. Neither did I[JH8] . I never told anybody what that…. Genocide… did to my soul. It hurt when I thought about it so I told myself I would never become that monster. Alphys told me later on that my determination became corrupted. It still is, but I can't cure it. Healing magic can. But there isn't enough of that left where I'm from.

"Look… In 14 days, you want to meet her and fight her. I can make that fight fair if we can get Gaster back. Not only that, you'll have your own determination on your side. She can't stop the three of us. And the others if we can get them on board with this once Gaster is back… We need Gaster to get them to listen to us," I finish with a sigh.

Sans just thinks it over and holds out a hand, "I know this is repeat for you, but humor me. I'm Sans, you?"

"Frisk," I shake his hand as a whoopie cushion sounds off. I start cracking up laughing at it without thinking.

Sans just chuckles, "That settles it. You're not the version I know. But at least you have a funny bone in ya. Now where do we start head scientist. You have the blueprint in your head."

"The lab in your garage. Also, I need your phone," I say quickly as he shrugs. After he throws me his phone, I text Alphys that she should come to his house in Snowden with Undyne four days from now without letting anyone know where they're going. Stage set. I give it back with a smile, "We have visitors in four days. One last thing. I'm starving…"

He laughs at me and sighs, "Well even if your grown up you still require me to take you to get food."

"Can't go up there. I can't be seen or leave this place… It's not safe. Not yet. You see…" a thought rushes into my head; genocide, the monster, Chara's death, and lastly her comment when I pushed her out of the radius. 'Oh! And here I thought we were the only ones with this power. The corruption that is determination. Aren't you rare!'

Sans gives me a cautious glance, "Kid, you can't be telling me your going silent again? Speak up. Honesty remember Pinocchio. What's eating you, chum?"

"She called me rare… called determination a corruption. Called herself we. That means we were conscious… Wait…" thoughts race out of my mouth in fragments. The images and plans form together more than ever before. I triumphantly jump up, causing Sans to move back a foot or so, "That's it! Chara and I never did remember everything. That's because our souls overlapped and became indiscriminate from one soul. You can't see the two souls that we were because… No way. Dissonance is the key…. Haha! Now we just need Gaster back. We can fix your machine up and work on this plan. I got a great plan for this if he's okay with it."

Sans shakes his head with a chuckle, "You're just like him. Well anyways, I'll go get some food for us. Don't start without me."

He disappears, leaving me to move into the garage. I get into the lab, deftly missing the puddle this time. I need to get back to work… Maybe if I do, I can do something right by her and the home I won't see anymore.

Home…

A four letter word that stings so much that I sink into the swivel chair I remember coding the original device with Gaster. My tears fall despite my best efforts and I can feel myself sinking into a feeling I want to avoid. Shoulders slumping, loss of focus, feeling empty without knowing the person I've come to regard as a sister is… Slowly, my arms rest on my legs where I stare aimlessly. Words choke out from my throat as my head sinks into my hands, "Why did she do that? Why did she- Chara's… She was my best friend."

This whole plan… I remember starting it after she cried at Toriel and Asgore's grave. She was so torn apart I couldn't see her that way. Admittedly, I cried too but those were the people who raised her. I remembered all the monsters we killed and where their graves were. That blow hurt the most. Everyone that welcomed me… Gone. Yet I still felt worse for her. I knew to try to get back would take everything but this cost is too much.

A hand touches my shoulder, causing me to jolt backwards in the chair. Without Sans' hand to catch my arm, the chair and myself might be broken together. He speaks solemnly as he pulls me to my feet, "It'll hurt… But you can't let what happened stop you. When I lost G… It was rough. Pap didn't remember him, no one did. It hurts now, but I kept going. So should you."

"You're right…" I sniffle and wipe back some tears, "She's probably making fun of me in the afterlife right now for crying… Heh. If you have the food, let's eat. Then I wanna start on this tonight. I won't let what happened go to waste. I have to make her sacrifice worth something or else I failed."

Sans chuckles, alternating into a confident smile, "That's a girl. Here. Grillby made you some fried egg sandwiches. Eat up and let's get cracking at this project." He offers me a bag with sandwiches in it.

I take the bag from him and grab one of the sandwiches and find a note. Inside the note I unfold, I see the words 'Make sure Sans eats one too. From Grillby.' Taking one of them, I hand it to Sans, "You eat too. No good being the only person eating. There's two in here, so have one. You look bone tired. Might need a pick-me-up."

He takes it as he lets out a small laugh that just sounds exhausted coming from him, "Let me guess, Grillby left a note… Old bag of flames watching out for me again… Heh…"

Part of me cringes at the lack-luster laugh. I remember the grinning jokester from every run. He was so full of life… But it wears thin after everything, I guess. With a slow nod, I look at the other sandwich I pull out of the bag, "You feel lost, crazy, like no one knows how you feel from the resets and restarts. No one remembers all that pain and torment but you. It hurts more than anything. Worst of all you have to worry if something like that is possible again or if you'll be able to stop it…." Setting the sandwich aside on the desk, I sigh, "I woke up to that feeling many years after you were…gone. Well, needless to say it still eats me alive too."

He seems to hang on every word. Even so, I can see the hidden emotional scars underneath were beginning to surface. His fixates his regretful look at the floor, "What of it, kid?"

"Frisk and… I just mean that you should follow your own advice. There is a reason to move on. You can save so many people, trust me. To do that, I can't do this alone. I'll admit, my abilities are still on the fritz and this process won't be easy for either of us. That being said, I can't do any of this or get Gaster back without help. We can't mobilize the underground without help. I know everything hasn't gone well and I hate that I made you write those terrible notes in the first place. But I gave up going home so we could stop the madness from starting. Hear me? I need the old Sans back or at least the confident goofball with jokes who had science know-how," I say without even worrying about the backlash.

His voice is hollow, eyes dark, and looks like he's trying to have faith, "I don't have a soul of determination to keep me going like you do kid."

"Me? My determination is corrupted and broken. It hasn't worked for a while the way it should. I'm not relying on that to push myself. I'm relying on emotions I have right now. I'm upset, hopeful, and conflicted. I'm upset my friend is gone, I'm hopeful I can get Gaster back beside me like before, and I'm conflicted that I can even properly fight what Chara and myself became," I say to Sans, ignoring my comment about Gaster.

"That being said, I'm here. We're both here. That means we have to fight hard for those that aren't and save those we can. Starting with Gaster and then the underground residents who moved to the surface. It's our responsibility to save them. I made this mess and you never spoke up about it. Our guilt is **OUR** fault. No one elses. So what? We can do something about it now. Let's hop to it then, funny bones. It's time we do something about our mistakes instead of crying over spilt milk. What do you say, bonehead? Ready to help me try one last stupid plan?"

He looks at me, some life returning to his face. His grin is still showing signs of loss, but hints at something positive. Taking my sandwich off the desk with a blue sheath of magic, he throws it at my face, "Then I guess you better eat. We got work to do, right? Oh and don't think I missed that comment about G…"

Barely catching the sandwich before it falls to the floor off my face, I blush, "You have your experiences with the restarts, I have mine. Quiet you." I unwrap the sandwich and stuff my face with it to stop any other words from coming out. This will work for now. At least, I didn't say what's really going through my head. That's enough to get him somewhat back to his senses though. I'm glad. It is possible my brain went too far on the speech though. Could have left out the Gaster comment.


	5. What Must Be Just Is

Shortly after eating, Sans and I work on making my detailed blueprint come to life. After a few hours, I realize I'm yawning a bit. Despite my best efforts, I know that I'm falling behind. Soon, I sit in the chair after a glare from Sans. My nerves and heart don't let me slow down. We've been working since last night. Neither of us had sleep. Now I'm feeling it. Him on the other hand, he's a tank. Just keeps trucking along as long as I tell him the small mistakes he makes when placing key parts. He's winding down too.

"Sans let's call it for now. Take a nap for a few hours and come back to it. We're both tired. I'm not saying sleep 8 hours but rest for 3 or so," I speak up to him, following my words with another yawn.

He just sighs, putting the wrench and gears down, "I guess. I'm feeling dog tired as is. Oh actually, hold on." Pulling out his phone, all I see is his mischievous grin, "Let's go upstairs for some coffee. Not time to sleep yet."

Mechanically, my feet move me from the chair and up the stairs. He follows behind me to make sure I don't fall. We both head out of the garage and find a visitor by the front door. Toriel stood there with a basket in hand, looking around until her gaze meets mine. Sans pushes me forward, "Go ahead, kid. I called her while we were working. I'll get the coffee." He moves past me into the house. Toriel smiles to him and then moves over to me.

Crickets are louder than the small voice I use, "Mom, I'm… sorry. Chara didn't make it and I'm…"

She pulls me into a hug with that same calming tone she had when I was a kid, "It's okay, child. Sans told me. She saved you. Her spirit is still the same as it was back then."

My arms wrap around her tightly as she continues, "I'm so glad to see you, but you look tired. Have you been sleeping?"

I laugh at her comment with a small red hue to my cheeks, "I can't. Someone important I know needs help."

"Come with me, child," she pulls me away from the house and into the library. She sets me in one of the chairs and sits across from me. Her smile is happy, but she hides her own mischief, "You mean to save him for a reason. One that I can understand. To do that, you have to rest. If you finish this device, you'll pass out. You care for this person correct?"

Nodding to her, my eyes look at my hands on the table, "Yes. A lot. I try to slow down, but I can't. I spent so much time with them that I'm… worried. I can't leave him alone in the void any longer. I promised him he wouldn't be alone in there."

Mom puts one hand on mine, prompting me to look up at her, "Then save him. But get sleep first. What would he say if he saw you this way?"

"If he were here, I wouldn't have been given the choice but to sleep. They would keep working regardless so that I could sleep in peace. Putting themselves out for me. Then again, I did always get mad at them for doing that," I smile thinking back to the lab and how took care of the explosion mostly. He did always help me and even gave up the chance to stay with Sans there and then to keep going.

She squeezes my hand, "Then bring him home but don't overwork yourself. You need rest. And when he comes back, I'll be here to meet him. I'll be checking in on you two since Sans doesn't cook more than hotdogs."

I move around the table to hug her again, "I promise. Just _promise_ me you won't be mad at me."

"Never. Now go along. I imagine your coffee is getting cold. Don't stay up too late today," she returns the hug tighter than before, "You'll be okay. Just keep your head up and don't forget. I'm still your mother. I'm here to talk about anything."

When she releases me from the hug, she smiles and leaves. I walk inside to find Sans with fresh coffee in two mugs, one says that it can't handle the caffeine. The other he is drinking from. Smiling to him, I give him a light punch on the arm, "Thanks. I mean it. I'll take a nap. You win. You both do. You should to. We'll get to work when we wake up."

"Did she talk some sense into you? You'll finally sleep?" Sans scoffs as if he didn't see this coming. He then laughs a bit and nods, "I'm exhausted too. Maybe for once… Nah. But get sleep. Take the couch."

Nodding, I just sink onto the couch. I ignore the coffee and pull the hood over my head. It comforts me a bit to know that I still have this from him. Shortly after laying down, exhaustion takes over. I am tired… So very tired of this all.

_ A voice calls to me in my sleep. A girl's voice, a familiar one, "Frisky! Frisk! I'm…" It cuts out but I can't see anyone. _

_ Spinning on my feet, I try to find it frantically, "Chara! Where are you? Please answer me."_

_ Chara slowly appears as a slight transparent image in front of me, "Get him back. Tell the boneheads to…. To watch you for me. This is all I got left. Be safe, Frisk."_

_ Her form begins fading as I try to get a hold of her, "No! Come back! Chara, please. I don't want you to go! Please stay!"_

_ She doesn't speak again. She's gone. I find myself staring at blank space and crying out in frustration, "No!... Not again." This dream tries to consume me until an explosion sounds off._

Back in the waking world, I hear a blast from Sans' room. Timidly, I walk up the stairs to his door. Knocking lightly, I just watch myself in case, "Sans? Are you okay? Sans?"

"Kid, just… Leave. It was an accident. Go back to sleep," he says aggressively.

Letting out a sigh, I just move downstairs and make us fresh coffee. The noise ceases upstairs. Leaving him his pun mug, I pick up mine and pull my hood back. I move out to the lab in the garage with a sinking feeling we're going to be a trio of problems. I find myself staring at the machine again. It's almost done. A few touches and we have this. Well, I sip my coffee continuing my thought, I won't bother him. My hands moving deftly across the keys, the code comes flawlessly. In an hour, the code is finished. I move to the machine and finish winding a few parts in and making sure the computer cords are tightly fastened. I think I may have left out that to get him out the machine has to explode but details, right?

The machine was done for the most part, except this time I wouldn't be here alone. A whistle sounds off behind me, scaring me to jump a bit.

Sans' voice sounds calm this time, "You are just like him. Kind of. Can't accept sleep or even to bother someone else."

"Sans, I didn't get you because you were feeling… not okay," I stumble over words trying to explain myself.

He held a hand up to silence me further, "I don't sleep well anymore. Then again, I'm afraid to sleep. You won't sleep until you reach a goal. G didn't sleep for days like that. Then again, he's not human. He can take that kinda strain… Look at me yapping, whats the next step?"

"Hehe… Funny story," I nervously laugh, "See the design is meant to pull something out but also explode after it does… It works and that I know. But uh… Yeah, sorry I left that out."

The blank expression he wears simply digs down to the word baffled. That same expression lingers while his eyes go dark, "You have to… what? But… No… No. When you turn it on, I'll try to protect you from any damage. Just don't push this off anymore."

Slyly laughing, I say, "What happened to humans need more sleep?"

"Don't test me. I'm still tired and could make a mistake," he chuckles, "Wouldn't want you breaking your funny bone, now would we?"

Giving a solid nod, "Aye Aye, Captain. Be ready."

The machine gives a false start, prompting me to hit it like last time until it whirs to life. It sparks and looks like it's ready to go at any minute. Sans tries to pull me back, but I refuse. Anxiety is building up in me and I can't stop it. That's when a familiar ooze climbs out of the void and forms. Being an idiot, I just smile to Gaster. He places the three of us in a barrier as the machine sparks dangerously. Sans produces a blaster head to take some of the damage for him until I see his eye flickering, failing. He hasn't slept yet either. Turning to Gaster, I look to him," Question, do you have enough magic to teleport us outside? This room is about to be a mess. Like my lab was."

Without even missing a step, he takes ahold of our arms, "Hold on." The machine bubbling to an explosive end dulls once I realize we're outside.

The cold air gets to me a bit but not much with the coat on. _Boom!_ There went the lab… Lots to rebuild now.

I just hug the two skeletons with a dumb smile on my face, "We did it!"

They both look at me strange after a final explosion from the lab sounds off. Gaster just smiles to as does Sans.

"Next time let's make a machine that doesn't try to implode," Sans throws at me mercilessly in a half-joke.

Gaster only cracks a grin, "You know, that only happens because you used too much power the last time. That generator was far too amped up."

Chuckling, I release the two from the hug, "Yeah, but it was a small thing. We only have to rebuild a small amount"

"Or I rebuild while you sleep again. Wasn't that how it happened last time?" he laughs at me. Then he turns to Sans, "I'm glad you're here. We should talk in private sometime about all of this."

Sans nods and gives me an approving glance, "I guess I can overlook your comment earlier if he's really back."

Gaster looks at me, "Comment?"

Red instantly fills my cheeks as I wave my hands in the air side to side flustered, "Nothing! No comment! Something dumb I said that was a bad pun."

"You know I see the timeline while I was in there, correct?" Gaster continues with a small laugh, "It's fine. We'll talk later. For now, I need to sit and have a meal with both of you and Papyrus if we can find him. Then we'll worry about this all tomorrow."

I agree immediately but Sans hesitates. Gaster and I look at him confused. Gaster speaks first, "What's wrong, Sans?"

"You two haven't heard then? Papyrus went missing down here. Haven't found him. And you said you both lost Chara. So, can someone explain why two people are missing?" Sans speaks grimly with a flat look about his features. This topic clearly didn't please him but still made him worry.

Thinking back to the reset, I look at Gaster, "If Chara died to bring us there… and she's gone for good…"

Gaster nods sorely, "Maybe his death in the previous time caused an erasure effect."

Sans shakes his head, "No. Papyrus was making breakfast and I came downstairs and he was… Gone. He isn't coming. If he was here, I would have seen him a while ago. Trust me, I've been looking."

"Chara and Papyrus saved our lives when they used an unstable machine to send us to a different moment in time. If that's true, did it erase their souls entirely?" I ask Gaster, continuing, "Can the machine do something like that?"

Gaster's look turns grim as he looks aside, "It can… But if I didn't see them in the void, it means they're both gone." He leaves to walk towards the ruins.

Without following, I just look to Sans who seems to shake his head, "Protect the kid… I followed her rule and now Pap is dead. To hell with this kid, I'm done."

Taking Sans' arm, I try to get his attention, "Stop! I know this isn't what we imagined, but he wouldn't want you rushing off to die. I know in the future he regretted being the one left with a few others. He always said you were stronger than him. So prove him right. Help us use the plan we set in place. Honor him that way."

"Yeah, right. I need time to think," Sans walks in the opposite direction towards the Waterfalls.

Being left alone, I realize that this wasn't how we planned all this. They were supposed to be here like before. Without anyone around, I decide to move into the lab to think. This all started because I decided to go back in time. Chara went along with it and maybe that's where things went wrong. This plan may not work now with the two missing, but maybe I can make a backup plan in case, though neither of them can know about it.

The idea is to create a device that allows us to get out of the void. It'll break upon use but that seems to be a running theme. I can't stabilize this matrix. Hours pass without either of them returning. This gave me time to finish the box with ease. All functions in order, I set it in my pocket and turn to leave. Something hits me… Or did it? Nothing is here… No, that's not it. I look down to see a large cut on my arm. Only one thing causes a cut like that. A bone being launched at someone. Who would… Sans!

Launching into action, I sprint towards the ruins. No one is around and I can't find Gaster anywhere to be seen. Frantically I call out his name, but no one answers in the entirety of the ruins. Pulling my phone out, I call Sans who picks up. Speaking quickly, "Sans! Did you go after her? Did you see Gaster? Something isn't right…"

"Kid, slow down. No. I'm watching the sun rise. Nowhere near the city. Wonder where he went through? What the hell. Was that a blast shot in the woods? Kid hold on," Sans says as I hear a small piece of the blast he speaks of. In seconds, I hear Sans again, "Where are you? I gotta get you up here. I think G is after the kid."

Looking around, I look to see the flower patch, "Flower patch in the ruins, why?"

His hand touches my shoulder, "Because, I'll get us there faster."

The scenery changes as I see the mountainside and the explosion not far off. A second cut shows up on my right arm, making me cringe, "That one stings. He must have hit her. We gotta stop him. Let's go."

"Kid, you can't fight without being seen. Put on that hood and mask. I'll drop you in," he motions to my hood.

Quickly, I put it on with a huff, "Let's go, Sans. No time to waste."

"Read my mind, kid. Hold on," he takes my arm and jumps off the cliff. When he takes me with him, we land on a blaster head as it takes us across the sky, "Need all the magic I can spare so we gotta go this way. Don't let go of me."

Taking a hold of his arm, I nod. With a look of worry, I see the resulting cuts on my arm heal, only for one to show right back up, "We need to step up our plan a bit and just push her back. The device isn't made yet."

Taking my tools out, I fix the box that's in my pocket. Gaster will kill me for this if he doesn't do so first. With a second thought, I look up at Sans, "I made a prototype. Maybe it'll do the trick."

He just focuses on getting us there. I set the device in my pocket and pull the paw covers over my hands. We're getting close. I see movement below us until a drive strikes the blaster and cracks it. Sans teleports us down to the ground. What we find is shocking and strange.

It's Gaster but his eyes are aglow. He stands nearby not even looking at us. That look reminds me of what I look like. I have to stop him.

She turns and grins at us, "Oh look, friends. Let's play a game. Which of you can die first? I wonder…"

One knife barely misses me as my instincts kick in to move aside. Sans moves instantly and glares at the passing knife.

I move in with my paws, my soul yearning for violence. Slamming a paw down at her, she moves briskly. I manage to kick her into a tree as a reaction. It snaps and I feel my spine ache for a moment.

Sans moves over to me, "Kid, you can't fight her. She's you. If she goes-"

"Get Gaster out of here. I know what I'm doing. Just trust me," I spout off, standing up. Glad I grew up, I thought, I can take these hits easier than her.

Sans tries to stop me as I pull away, "I said get Gaster out of here. Please, Sans. For me..."

He moves to Gaster and manages to grab an arm to teleport them away. Good, I thought. Open field. Alright monster in me, let's get her.

I run at her, avoiding two knives barely. I slide past her, avoiding a hailstorm of more. With a second thought, I remember my times with them and shake my head. Pulling the device out, I feint to the right and move left instead to get to her side. Within moments, the device activates to send us both into the void. The device shatters as the darkness is all we have.

"You imbecile! We'll never leave! You've doomed us," she glares at me, jumping back defensively.

With a small smile, I just charge up my ability unbeknownst to her, "Yeah I did. But we're not going to be here long." My body was charging itself to turn her into a human bomb if I touched her. The resulting explosion kills us both regardless.

Reaching a hand out, I grab her soul as it triggers. I smile to her with a tear in my eye, "Chara, if you're in there…" I pull my hood off with tears falling, "I'm sorry, I failed you. We chose to experiment, and it made us into this. I'm so sorry."

"Ah! What are you talking ab-Ah! What did you do to me?" she steps back with cracks over her soul.

Looking at my own soul cracking, "We'll die here. I'm sorry, but you can't reset here. The void is permanent."

The resulting explosion threw me further into the nothing until I feel it. Me, ebbing away. With her gone, I don't exist anymore… The world goes black as I feel my soul finally breaking. I only wish I could apologize to everyone. I won't be going home to either time…

_The End, right?..._

A blinding light opens my eyes. The green hue makes me feel like this is familiar, but why?

A distant voice speaks up, getting closer, "We have her. Wait for it, Sans." I am levitating into the light until the darkness is gone. That same voice speaks up, "Now."

The darkness is finally gone for good I hope, but my mind falters. Who would save me? I'm a living weapon…

"Kid? Dad is she okay?" the other younger voice speaks up.

The green hue remains, reducing the the pain in my soul. The first voice speaks up again, "I don't know. She triggered her ability and it seems to have had an impact on her soul. I can hopefully heal it like before, but she's not responding… Frisk, can you hear me?"

Blinking away the spots, I find myself looking up to a taller skeleton with a turtleneck and the other younger one with a blue hoodie. They were both looking at me with concern. My voice feels weak, like I haven't used it in a long time, "Who is Frisk?... I'm just… a weapon…"

The blue sweat shirted one looks aside, "Dad… The void scrambled her mind. She was in there too long..."

"No. She's still in there. Frisk, do you remember why you went into the void? Who was with you?" the older one asks me.

Thinking back, nothing comes to mind but that memory. Telling someone I was sorry… Who did I tell that too? Why? My head hurts thinking back on it. Or is it my soul? I forget. I made someone else a bomb. My voice hurts as it tries to speak up urgently, "I'm not safe. Send me back. I'm a weapon…" Shrinking back from them both, I end up backing into a wall. The crack in my soul sends lightning strikes of pain in me, making me fold to my knees, "I shouldn't be here."

The older one watches in concern, the green hue waning, "Sans, I can't keep healing it. I'm running out of magic."

"No. We're not giving up on her. She did this to help us…" the younger one says. He moves in front of me, "Hey, I need you to focus on me. Look at me, kid." He gets me to look at him, "Remember doing all this? Coming back to help us and breaking your only way home…"

I shake my head lost.

The younger one grits his teeth until he sighs, "You remember this right? I know we've had history with them." A blaster summons beside him, smaller but still.

Staring, I shiver, "Blaster magic…"

The older one speaks up, "Yes, blaster magic. You remember something. I know the void can take things away, but it can't take memory. Your name is Frisk. We travelled all over time to save people like Sans. We even found someone whom you know… Sans, go get her."

The one he calls Sans leaves. When he comes back, I see a girl in green sweatshirt and jeans. Her hair is like mine. Tears reach her eyes as she hugs me instantly, "Frisky! I knew you were alive! You couldn't leave me. I knew it."

My mind tries to conjure up who she is. The only thing I can conjure up is a name, "Chara…"

"Yeah! My name. We're sisters, remember? We learned to cook all for mom's pie, and we managed to get the fire department called on us," Chara speaks to me at arm's length now. She continues with a smile, "That's Sans and you have to remember him. Gaster is the whole reason we fought… Remember?"

Part of me wants to, but I'm missing pieces. Or is it pieces of my soul… I look to her, "I'm sorry. I just don't know. My soul…" I look down to the cracked entity, missing a few shards, "I'm not sure I have everything."

Chara smiles, "Don't worry. I can help with that." She sets her hand on my soul, making it glow. Her smile seems to be forced, "Despite you liying about your ability, I lied too. I can heal you."

Pieces of my soul start to regenerate and even recover things. Sans, Papyrus, her, Gaster…. All of them. My eyes glow red and cool back down. She sinks back on her rear until I tackle hug her, "Chara! You're alive!"

Chara just lays there stunned until she hugs me back. I feel her tears on my shoulder, "Frisky. You idiot… You always make me worry about you."

I help her up with a smile to her. Sans moves over and puts a hand on my shoulder, "No more rogue plans there kid. Promise?"

I shrug, "Can't promise anything, but I can promise I won't do anything that big next time."

Gaster moves over with a smile, "I hope so, for my sake… Forgive me, you three. I'm very tired. I need to lay down." He leaves with a fake exhaustion. Something in me catches this.

Chara nudges me with Sans sighing. Chara speaks up, "Go after him. I can't stop you. You're 29 now. Go on."

With a look to them both, "Go after- No, I'm not…"

Sans just pushes me along, "Go, kid. Before I learn to regret this."

"If I did age, I'm older than you. Not a kid anymore," I say as I leave. I look around and see smoke rising from the back of Grillby's. I knew of a memory of them smoking there before. Moving around the building, I take the cigarette away from him as he just smiles to me, "Nope. None of this. I didn't come back to see you walk away from me again."

He sits on the back step, leaving space for me. I sit beside him as he clears his throat. He won't speak first. I take the first words further, "You know, we never did get to talk before you ran off."

"I did so because I theorized I could force her into that monstrous phase. I was wrong…" he says looking down at the snow.

Stamping the cigarette into the snow, I put a hand on his, "Hey, I know I acted without thinking too. Guess we forgot how science works didn't we?"

His smile is bitter, but still a smile, "You mean how we forgot the steps of the scientific method? Maybe. Then again, I was far too worried about you losing control to think too far ahead on that. You did start this by making that comment though."

Now I am the one looking into the snow, "I'm… Sorry. I wasn't thinking. I just said it."

"No, you were feeling. Something I'm glad about. If it weren't for your feelings, I might not have been able to remain stable so long. It gave me someone to lean on," he says honestly, putting his arm around me, "Just promise me you won't do anything like that again. I can't hear that you'll enact such a rash plan without me."

This feels normal. Comfortable. That I'm here with him. Leaning my head on him, I close my eyes, "Right. Never again. Promise." The darkness of closing my eyes jump starts me awake.

His arm tightens around me while his gaze watches me carefully, worried, "The void… I know it'll be hard to sleep for awhile but I do recommend it. It won't be easy, but I'll help if I can."

"I think you're already helping," I lean on him again and my mind seems to relax. I am scared of the dark but he's here. With a smile, I open my eyes to see him dozing off. I chuckle silently and stand, "Alright. Let's go. You need sleep. I think you earned it. I'm not leaving so you can rest easy, promise."

He stands reluctantly as I pull him along, "Fine. Just…"

His feet stop moving as he pulls me to a stop, "I need to ask something."

"Sure. You know you can ask anything… Almost anything," I say, adding on last moment.

Taking my hand in his, he sighs, "If you mean that, then tell me. Did you mean you want to stay here in Snowden with me? You broke your only way home."

Squeezing his hand, I just nod, "Yup. And I didn't break it. I can make a new one for Chara if she wants it. But Mom is here. Doubt she'll want it. Besides, you can't get rid of me that easily. I can't home. So much has changed probably that I can't go home. Of course, I'll need a place to stay and a lab partner. Do you know anyone up for the task?"

His smile this time is genuine and it makes me happy to see. He says, "Well I guess I know a skeleton who would be willing to help. As long as the other lab partner doesn't mind helping each other out like before."

"Wouldn't have it any other way," I laugh a bit, "We have that whole soul exploding things problem to solve too. So plenty of possible lab experiments to run there. For now, though science is always my first choice. You need sleep. You're low on magic remember. Last time that happened, I had to walk across a field of flowers carrying you."

I see it in him that he wants to make a crack at me about something but just laughs it off, "Fine. I'll sleep. Just promise me you'll be here when I wake up."

"Promise. Can't do science alone. And Gaster. I'm not leaving ever again. Promise," I squeeze his hand again, "I'll always be here when you wake up. You're not alone anymore."

He sighs and goes in the house with me. I let him go upstairs to sleep in Sans' room while I sit on the couch. With a smile, I look over at Toriel who is standing in the kitchen with Chara. Chara mysteriously carries a mischevious grin on her face.

Mom walks over to me and hugs me, "I'm glad you're home."

I hug her back, watching Chara look aside, "Thanks, Mom… But…" I move out of the hug and to Chara, "Are you sure you're home? I can try to remake the device that got us home but it'll take time. Not to mention the changes we caused in time."

Chara just hugs me with tears falling, "I'm home here, Frisky. With Mom and you. I'm just sad we can't find Papyrus. Gaster and Sans found a way to pull me out of the timeline to here just before the device kills me… I'm here now. And you're still my brainy annoying sister. Just don't leave again like that. If you're fighting this thing, let's do it together. We're family."

Mom comes over and hugs us both, "And you both can rely on me. I lost you once, I won't do so again."

After the hug, I let out a yawn with a small grain of fear to what that meant. I shyly speak up, "If I sleep on the couch, can you guys stay here with me? I'm… scared to be alone. The darkness when I close my eyes…"

Chara nods, "I got this, Mom. You should go check on everybody up there. Tell them we'll come to visit when everyone is able."

Mom gave us one last hug and kiss on the forehead before leaving.

I sit on the couch by Chara. She turns on the TV like we used to in our time. She gives me a blanket for us to share and I remember one memory that I've wanted to remember:

_"Frisky! Its time! Mettatton is running the marathon. Hurry up!" Chara yells at me._

_Running after her, feebly I catch my breath. We both run towards the lab and slide to a stop. Alphys lets us in as we watch most of the reruns he saved of his show. _

_The best part was where Chara and I shared a blanket and sat on a chair together. Everyone went on break to walk around but we were comfortable. I just smile to her, "I'm glad you're here. It's like having a sister."_

_"Duh, Frisky. We are sisters. That's why I'm still around. I'm here to protect you," she said proud of herself._

_With a laugh between us both, I yawn. She flicked my nose, "Go to sleep. I'll cover for you. Say you weretired from training or something."_

_I rest my head on her shoulder with a smile, "Thanks…"_

_"What are sisters for?" she said as I dozed off._

Leaving the memory, I set my head on her shoulder, "Thanks, Chara. I'm glad we're still family after all this. I felt bad dragging you into my guilt."

"Nope! Not dragging. I came willingly. Glad I did too. I was here to bail you out. No more crazy trips to the void, please?" she says stopping my comment in its tracks.

I nod, "Promise."

"Good. Now get some sleep, you goof. I'm here until you wake up," she says as she pulls me into a hug with a blanket around us, "And that's my promise to you. You're family and that means a lot to me. Now sleep."

We watch Mettaton for awhile until I start to doze off. The darkness isn't as scary this time. I have my sister, Mom, Sans, Gaster and the others too. I'm not alone. At least in this moment, I can sleep soundly.


	6. Extra: Extreme Picnicking

Extra: Voiding the Issue

It's been months since our excursions across time and space. I can honestly say it is nice being in one place and time, but our research seems to be hinting at something. Instead of letting Gaster and I figure this out, Chara and Sans are dragging us to the surface to do a picnic. They said we needed some sunlight to burn some tan lines on us. Either way, I don't despise going out, but I know I have to pursue something. Moving out of the bedroom Gaster let me have in the lab, I find myself watching him sleep in his chair at the computer desk.

I move over after putting my lab coat, mask and hood on. Tapping his shoulder, I slink behind the desk before he sees me. See, in the past months, he's been training me to use my ability without the violence involved. That and we discovered my ability to see different magic used by others. Small bits of speed boosts and movement improvements. Nothing to attack with yet.

He moves slightly from the sound of ruffling fabric and the sliding of the chair. Sneaking around the desk, I barely miss him catching me until a blaster head picks me up, his laugh being my defeat, "You still can't use your ability to improve your ability to sneak up on others. That and there isn't many places to go after you've used most of the hiding places in this lab."

He sets me down, allowing me to take my mask off. Smiling, I just shrug, "Guess I'll have to get inventive."

"Inventive won't get us out of this trip. We're so close to figuring out this reading…" he rubs his skull frustrated.

I poke his chest with the paw gloved hand, "You know we'll find it. What we don't know is what they'll do to this lab if we don't go… Come on, Gaster. Let's get out to that field of flowers we went to. She chose it because of how much I love those flowers. Please don't make me go alone! Sans will guilt-joke me to confessing where you are if you don't come…"

He seems to be in higher spirits, letting the problem at hand fade for now, "I guess you're right. Come on. Don't forget, we're cooking together tonight too. You mentioned a recipe you knew that I would like."

"And that is still a date… A cooking… Experiment…" I say, blundering my words, "Okay… Yeah, it's a date."

He nods and takes my hand. He still avoids that word but we have been closer since, "As long as it's time together. Now let's go before they come hunting."

I close my eyes, feeling the labs stale air change. Opening my eyes, I see the yellow flowers I love so much. Moving from Gaster, I lean down to pick a yellow flower. I braid it on the collar of his white turtleneck with a smile, "There. Now you're really blooming in the light."

Those gentle eyes return like I've seen before. He's happy and at home around me, something he's mentioned before. I'm glad I get to see this side of him. Speaking plainly, he sounds at peace, "I guess I am. If only in these moments."

I pull my phone out and snap a picture of him with a chuckle, "Gotcha smiling!" Snaking out of his reach before he can grab my phone, I chuckle, "Want the phone? Use your legs and come get me."

"Frisk… Okay. You win," he says finally letting loose. I hear his strides behind me, clearly longer strides than mine.

Cheating, my soul flares up with a surge in speed ahead of him, facing him, "I'd think you're getting too old to run but I know you're faster than that."

"I am," he huffs halfway with a smile, "You're too slow."

A hand taps my shoulder. I turn, only to get the trick. He catches up with my phone in his hand triumphantly, "You still fall for that."

"Not fair! I'm. Too. Short," I say between jumps to reach it, "It's the only picture I have of that smile. You can't make me delete it."

He sets it in my hand, "Not true. You have more. But you win. I still win, despite the _small_ victory with the picture."

We both laugh a moment, making me wipe a tear from my eye. I smile, "Well I guess we both win."

"True," he says, looking around curious now, "Did she text you? I didn't notice your phone go off."

Wondering quite the same, I open my phone and see no messages. I shrug to him, "Let's see if I can get a birds eye view. Can you lift me up?"

He summons a blaster, letting me jump on. Raising me up, I notice the trees around the large field. But part of the field is burnt up. I call his phone, which he answers quickly, "Anything?"

"Yeah. The field is burned ahead. Was it always burned?" I ask him. Gaster thinks back for now.

A voice calls above me, familiar yet wrong, "No, it wasn't. I had a loose end to tie up. Guess I get to cut down one more."

Energy surges above me, making me jump off the blaster before it disintegrated. I dive towards Gaster actually scared, "Gaster! Catch me."

The blue field catches me, allowing me to safely land behind him. He looks around, protectively, "What did you see? Who was that talking?"

"I don't know. No one I know exactly. Something wasn't right," I say with a shiver, "But that burned patch, we gotta get there. Chara could be hurt. He said he had a loose end to tie up. I'm realy worried."

He pulls me close to him and teleports closer to the picnic site which is obliterated. The basket in tatters and blood on the ground. I try to pull away from him, but he holds me beside him, "Don't… Look."

I follow his gaze to the blur in the smoke walking towards us. He uses a barrier around us until we see Sans limp towards us. Gaster opens the barrier long enough to let me blaze out of it in a blur of red and bring him inside the barrier. Gaster heals Sans.

Noticing his coat is red along with part of his soul, I look around, "Where is she? Sans, where is Chara?"

The same distorted yet familiar, older tone speaks up, "Oh she would be dust but she gave her soul to save his life. Too Bad. I tried to tell him she was bad news. So are you human… Both of you level-minded skeletons do me the favor of handing over the corrupted fireball back there."

Gaster finishes healing Sans, allowing me to help Sans stand. Gaster leaves the barrier, allowing it to protect us, "You won't be getting her. Now show yourself. Or should I level the clouds to get you in one shot."

"Scary!" says the voice mockingly from the smoke-filled tree-line with a green hue to his magic aura, "Just like I knew you'd be. He sounded just as scary about the other one. Now hand over the monster before I take her by force. I'd hate to hurt you too."

The same green energy glows, circulating around Gaster now. Gaster teleports back a few feet with a glare, "You won't have her." He summons blasters around him and fires. They bounce off our barrier and the air is still for a moment.

Sans shakes his head, "He's not dead. Gotta help him. He's got an ability. He stops people… Like he stopped me from blocking an attack."

I set him down and focus my abilities. Stepping through the shield, I see the magic charging on the other side of the trees. Runnig forward, I blaze and slam into Gaster and knock him aside. The blast goes off into the sky.

Gaster is barely able to stand as he seems slower. I see the same green hue around him that is holding him. This time I take my shot and focus all my energy into my own aura. It cuts off the green hue from holding him. I glare, "Whose the real monster that kills an innocent woman and hides in the shadows to kill three more people?"

"Oho…" he laughs but it ends bitterly. "No… See you don't get it kiddo. I had to watch as that…" he pauses with an exhaustive sigh I've heard before, but can't place, "Well they're dead, she's safe. For now. Won't be long until another comes. That is if there is any left to kill her. You're the last on my list for now. Come peacefully and I leave the rest of this place alone. No more casualties. Don't make me ask twice kid. I'll kill them both."

Looking at Gaster, I know how late we stayed out to figure out that reading. My mind clicks, "The magic reading was him. We can't trace it because that's a human soul and a monster soul… It's green."

Gaster looks back to the tree line, "Then he absorbed that soul."

"I didn't!" He shoots another blast. Gaster teleports us into the barrier as it bounces off.

With a watchful gaze, I know Gaster will burn out of magic soon. He hasn't slept much at all. Neither have I but I practically generate magic. Stopping a moment, I look to Gaster, "Let me walk out. I know what to do."

Sans shakes his head no, only to cough violently from the effect. Gaster steadies him and watches me, "You haven't used that in months. We don't know the effects."

"He'll kill you both. Now let me go. I'll be fine," I smile to him, leaving the opening he gives me. I pull my lab coat off, my white tee shirt and jeans underneath bathed in a red glow. The flow of magic around me is deadly strong. I knew this feeling. Blood lust. My blood lust.

The figure in the tree lines moves to the right, his hue still guiding me, "Oh, you figured out how to use it. Cute. Being a Brainiac won't help you."

"Doesn't need to," I untie my pony tail as my hair falls to the middle of my back, "Just needed to get charged enough to do this." I feint right until he moves like I thought he might. Sliding to the left, I slam a fist into his green shielding. It shatters, launching him back once I hit his chest. Several trees fall, the coming explosion building in glow. I stand awash in the crimson light show. A blurred figure moves in the wreckage of the blast, only causing me to tense up.

"That really hurt. You really are like that one. Sorry I even held back," the green hue lights up as it spreads around me in the smoke in a dome. The blasts go off, but something grabs my arm.

I find myself beside Gaster, who finally exhausts his magic supply. He sinks to the ground, Sans already having passed out. A blast of green is heading towards us until I threw a glowing lab coat at it. The resulting explosion knocks me back, but stops the blast. Moving forward, I stand in front of them again, "Why did you kill her? Why are you attacking?"

"It's because of monsters like you. Red demons in kids clothing. Well you're the first adult versions I've found. I guess demons can deceive even the greatest minds. Even her… To protect her, I have to kill you," he summons more magic blasts ready to fire.

Blankly, I freeze until I held my hands up, "Stop!..." The glow around me flares up, something in me fighting back. Inside, I didn't want to surrender. But I don't wanna lose anymore people. Shaking my head, "Promise me, they'll live." I funnel the resulting magic I'm generating into Gaster in hopes it might wake him up.

"Alright then… You have pluck. Shut off the light show and move aside. You're my only target," he says, still aiming.

Kneeling, I set a hand on Gaster's shoulder, "I'm sorry. I can't beat him this way…" I whisper to him. scared, "Please wake up… Please work."

Gaster's hand moves to mine, "It's okay."

A hail storm of blasts lands on the one in front of us until the smoke clears. A form lay within the crater created.

Helping Gaster up, I help him walk to the lip of the crater. We stare in awe at it's inhabitant. The only words I can conjure in Gaster's vocal absence is, "How is this possible?"


End file.
